We Are Family
by Breathe From Your Hoo Hoo
Summary: Roger and Mark adopt a child but find it hard to deal with married life. Sequel to Will You Be Mine? This is about….mmm, a year later. MarkRoger slash, obviously. CHAP. 26 DONE!
1. Welcome

Summary: Roger and Mark adopt a child and learn deal with married life. Sequel to _Will You Be Mine? _This is about….mmm, a year later.

Mark's POV.

* * *

"Hey boys, why don't you go wait at the car? I'll just finish up the paperwork and join you in 5 minutes."

"Ok Joanne. Thanks!" I yelled to her as Roger and I exited the adoption centre with huge smiles on our faces. Once we stood near the car, I carefully unwrapped the tiny white bundle in my arms so we could have a peek at our little prize.

"Oh my God, he is so beautiful", my husband murmured to me as we feasted our eyes on what was in that bundle; a beautiful little baby boy, about five months old, with dark forest-green eyes, dull sandy-blond hair and a pretty little dimple on his left cheek, dressed in a blue-and-yellow baby jumpsuit with tiny airplanes on them. He looked absolutely precious.

"Yes", I mumbled, my voice shaking just a little. "Yes he is." I looked at this child, and then at Roger, who just gazed at him unblinking. Oh my God. I couldn't believe it. We have a child. A son. We're a family now. I captured Roger's lips in a deep kiss, which he willingly returned. He then smiled widely at me, I smiled back and I just knew we were thinking the same thing.

* * *

Joanne drove us home once she completed the legal formalities. "Lemme look at him again" she pleaded as she drove the car. I chuckled. She kept stealing glances at him every time we hit a red light. "Awww he's so gorgeous," she blubbered.

"Yes I know, he really is," I declared proudly as I clutched the baby closer to my chest. Roger slid his arm around my shoulder as we sat in the back seat, and I sighed happily and rested my head on his shoulder.

"So what have you named him?" Joanne asked as she made a sharp left turn.

Roger and I looked at each other and grinned widely. "His name is Joshua Angel Cohen-Davis," announced Roger, saying each name clearly.

Joanne beamed at us through the rear-view mirror. "Wow, that's an _excellent_ name."

I smiled back at her though the mirror. "Yes it is. Thank you."

* * *

Joanne dropped us off at the loft, making sure we had enough formula and diapers, and then left for home. Roger took little Joshua from me, sat on the couch and looked into his sparkling green eyes, and said:

"Hey there Josh. I'm Roger, your dad. And this gorgeous dude here is Mark, your _Aba_," he gestured to me as I sat on the couch next to him and kissed his cheek. "The reason we took you home today is because we wanted to love you and raise you as our child, so we could make our family whole. Now we may not be the richest or coolest parents on the block, but we just want you to know that we love you more than anything little buddy, and we will dedicate our entire lives to you."

I felt tears well up in my eyes as I listened to my husband make this promise to our son. Every word of it was true. We wanted a child so badly, and now thanks to Joanne, we were able to adopt one. Now we were a complete family. I wrapped my arms around my beautiful family, one around Roger and one around Joshua, and the two of us just gazed at his beautiful little cherub face.

"Who do you think he'll be like more?" asked Roger as he offered a finger to little Joshua.

"MMMM, I dunno. Guess we'll just to wait and see, huh?" I said.

Roger and I chuckled as he said, "Yup, I guess we'll have to." Then we turned our gaze back to our son, who was now attempting to suck on Roger's thick finger, which made us both giggle. We then watched in awe as he wrapped his tiny little hand around Roger's finger, tears brimming in our eyes as we saw how small this human being was and yet how much joy he brought into our lives. This little child was just what we needed.

* * *

Ok guys; please tell me if this is any good. If it isn't, I'm happy to just scrap it. Thanks. 


	2. New Bohemian

Roger's POV.

* * *

The two of us just sat there on the couch for a while, as little Joshua blinked and gurgled in my arms. I looked at him and grinned. I wonder if he'd make a good rock star. Maybe tousle his hair a bit, put a piercing in his ear and rip his jeans a bit? _Whoa, no way Jose_, I thought to myself, chuckling. No way did I want my son growing up to be a loser like I once was. I would see to it that he made something really worthwhile out of his life. I, being lost in my thoughts, didn't notice my husband suddenly looking at me with a wide grin on his face.

"Whatcha thinkin'?" he asked me.

I continued to gaze at our son. "Oh nothing. Just making sure that our little boy doesn't grow up to be a deadbeat loser like I was."

"Don't say that!" exclaimed Mark as he turned his head to face me. "You were not a loser. Sure, you made some wrong choices and suffered the consequences, but you were _never_ a deadbeat or a loser. You were just young and vulnerable and so April took advantage of that. But you're good and clean now, and I know you'll never let anything like that happen to Josh. I know you'll be an excellent role model to him." My eyes fogged up as I listened to him say these things. God, how much I love him.

"Thank you, baby." I whispered as I kissed him. "I love you so much."

"I love you too, honey," he whispered, kissing me back slowly and gently. Then, he wrinkled his nose.

"Gah! What's that smell?"

"What smell?" I enquired, searching his face. Then suddenly, it dawned on me. "Uh oh. Did little Joshy do something smelly?" I grinned at the little bundle in my arms.

Mark giggled and pulled me to my feet. "C'mon Daddy, let's see you get that diaper changed."

I fake-shuddered. This was the part I was dreading most, but in the end, I guess it's actually all worth it.

* * *

Twenty-five minutes later, little Joshy found himself in a clean, new diaper and I found myself covered in baby powder, baby poop and baby lotion. Well, that was one hell of a first run. Mark and I laughed at how I treated his diaper changing like a major brain surgery; I wore white gloves and a face mask so I wouldn't have to touch or smell the unmentionable stuff in his diaper. But hey, at least we both got out of it alive.

"Oh man, you look like you've been rolling around on the floor of a day-care centre," giggled Mark as I stuck my tongue out at him. "C'mon, let's get you cleaned up. The whole gang's coming over in the evening."

"Oh yeah, definitely." I said, pulling my shirt off and tossing it in the wash basket. I turned the shower water on, and then faced my husband. "You wanna join me? It's big enough for two…." I asked him and I ran my hands up and down my chest, grinning seductively at him.

Mark's eyes grew as huge as melons, as did the bulge in his pants, but he picked up little Josh in his arms and said, "Sorry honey, I can't leave Joshy here alone. He needs his nap."

I sighed, "Alright fine. But you do know you have to make up for it tonight?" I winked at him.

"Of course I do," he smiled and pecked me quickly on my lips. "Now go get yourself clean." I strode in the bathroom, discarding the rest of my clothes, but not before stealing a quick glance at Mark gently whispering to the baby and rocking him to sleep. I grinned to myself. He's gotta be the best mother the world has ever seen,in my opinion.

* * *

Evening came by, and all our friends came by to see the newest addition to our Bohemian family. First was Collins, with - you guessed it – Stoli, then Maureen and Joanne with armloads of baby toys, Mimi with some adorable baby clothes and Benny with a years' supply of baby cleaning goods. I swear, that guy goes so overboard every time he buys stuff for us, but I guess that's his way of making up for all the time that he dumped us for Muf- uh Alison anyhow. I sat on the couch with all of them, drinking and making small talk, when Mark came out of our bedroom and announced:

"Everyone, meet our precious little boy!" as he held little Joshua in his arms, who was now wide awake and giving everyone big, toothless smiles. Collins was the first one to take him in his arms.

"What's his name?" he asked as gently he bounced little Joshy on his knee.

Mark and I took a deep breath and Mark told him, "His name is Joshua Angel Cohen-Davis."

Collins let out a brief sob of joy and held the baby close to his chest. 'Thank you," he whispered under his breath. "Thank you so much."

Next was Maureen, who held him in her arms and cooed at him non-stop. "Helllooo? Who's this handsome little boy? You're so handsome! Yesh you are! You little shtud, you!" Joanne giggled at her wife, while trying to get a hold of him too.

"_Leana_ is just gonna love him!" squealed Maureen. Leana Johnson-Jefferson was the little girl that Joanne gave birth to, after getting sperm from a donor and some DNA from herself and Maureen and then getting IVF. She was 3 and a half months old, with creamy mocha skin from both her moms, and walnut-brown hair. She wasn't able to be here with us because Joanne's parents wanted to spend some time with her. I chuckled to myself, knowing that 'spending time' with grandparents really meant 'getting spoilt rotten.'

"Honeybear, relax! I'm sure she will," said Joanne as she cooed to little Joshy. Then came Mimi, who spoke baby-talk to him while modelling all her various outfits on him, and Benny, who looked at our son with a slightly scared expression on his face. Probably coz Alison's been wanting one from him. I giggled. No way could I picture Benny as a father.

Collins grinned widely. "Hey Benny, you better beware, coz this little guy here is the new generation of Avenue A Bohemians." Everyone giggled at Benny's face, which still looked scared. I could almost see the images in his head of another Bohemian pushing the tables together at the Life café and dancing on them, dropping his pants and mooing at him, or not paying the rent for years on end. No doubt Maureen would be teaching him all the naughty stuff. I smiled and wrapped an arm around my Marky's shoulders, kissing his cheek. Yep, this little guy was gonna succeed us as the next generation of Bohemian youth.


	3. DaddyO!

Mark's POV.

* * *

"_WWWWWAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"_

"What's wrong now?" asked Roger as he sat chatting with Benny.

"He's just hungry, sweetie. I better feed him. It's his dinner time anyway." I said as I took little Joshua from Joanne's arms. Roger immediately shot up and took him from my arms. "_I_ wanna feed him! Can I? Please?"

I smiled widely at him. "Sure you can." I went to the kitchen and came back with a tiny bottle of mashed-carrot-and-corn baby food and a baby spoon. Roger positioned Joshua on his knee, opened the bottle and started spooning the mush into his mouth. I sat with Maureen and Mimi, and we giggled as we watched Roger trying to feed little Joshua the food, which kept ending up on his face rather than in his mouth.

"You go, Daddy-O!" taunted Maureen as she pumped her fist in the air. Roger just stuck his tongue out at her and continued his feeding battle.

"Awww he's so great with babies", said Mimi as she watched my husband doing his thing. "I had no idea."

I sighed as I too watched Roger. "Yeah he is. A few years ago, I never dreamed that Roger would ever want kids. But ever since the day we married, I just knew in my heart that he'd be able to love a child as much as he loves me. In fact, he was the one who suggested the idea."

"Well, he's definitely on the right path."

"Yeah he is", I said, smiling dreamily. "He's so adorable." I blushed when I suddenly saw Mimi grinning amusedly at me, and we both broke into a little giggle. I must really look like a high school girl with a crush right now.

* * *

After about half on hour of getting Joshua to eat his food, we all settled down to have our dinner; some gourmet Italian food that Benny picked up. Man, that dude really splurges his cash. He's worse than a woman in a Prada shop with a dead husband and a stack of his credit cards in her purse. But the food was really good. I especially enjoyed the pizza margherita. When they all said their goodbyes and finally left, Roger and I cleared up the mess and I tried to get Joshua to sleep. But he refused to sleep and instead started giggling and babbling some baby nonsense. I tried bouncing him up and down in my arms.

"C'mon _Yeshula_, it's bedtime. Please go to sleep," I moaned as I stroked his little head. But he just gurgled even louder.

Roger stood in the doorway of my old bedroom – which we converted into the baby's room – and grinned cheekily at me. "Need a little help there, Mommy?"

I smiled weakly and gave him an _Oh-God-yes_ look, which prompted Roger to take our son from my arms. He sat on the chair near the crib, cradled Joshua in his big, strong arms and began singing:

_Starlight and wonder  
The universe seen through your eyes  
The moon is a glorious halo  
Hanging high over your head every night  
Spinning and spinning  
A flick of the wrist and a smile  
And in the morning so early  
Deep conversations are spoken  
in tongues by sunlight_

_  
Tonight, you can dream you're a star  
you can walk on the clouds  
And float to the ground  
And I'm with you  
Tonight you can get very far  
The calm and the storm, and forever yours, and I'm with you._

I knelt in front of my Roger as he sang this to our son. This is exactly the way I dreamt it: the two of us singing our precious child to sleep. I watched in total joy as Roger gently caressed Joshua's head with his stubby fingers.

_We stare out the window  
And look to the sky every night  
The stars are the beacons of heaven,  
And maybe one day you'll go up for a ride  
Oh you are the sunshine,  
you are the face that I dream of  
You are your Aba's religion, down on the knees as he kisses your heartache away._

_Tonight, you can dream you're a star  
You can walk on the clouds  
And float to the ground  
And I'm with you  
Tonight you can get very far  
The calm and the storm, and forever yours  
And I'm with you._

I could feel a single tear slipping down my cheek as Roger continued singing. The next verse that he sang was enough to just break my heart with happiness.

_I've thrown coins in the fountain,  
I've been to the mountain  
I've lived through the violence,  
I've seen what man can do to man  
I can't promise you peace,  
I can't promise you money  
But I promise to make you the best man I can  
Hold onto something  
'cause your life's about to begin…._

I wrapped my arms around my little family as Roger sang the chorus one last time and brought the song to an end. "That's a little something I wrote for our son, so he knows how we feel about him," he said, smiling shyly.

"It's beautiful," I whispered, gently kissing his chin. We smiled at each other when we noticed that Joshua was fast asleep, his tiny thumb stuck in his mouth and his tiny chest rising and falling with tiny breath that he took. I blushed as Roger wiped the tear trail from my face. Then we stood up, as Roger whispered, "Goodnight little guy. Daddy loves you" and placed a little kiss on the crown of his head. I took Joshua from his arms, kissed his cheek and mumbled "Goodnight _Yeshula_. _Aba_ loves you too," before placing him in his crib and drawing the soft-blue baby blanket over him. My husband and I just smiled at each other as we watched out little boy sleep, and then after he set up the baby monitor – one of Benny's gifts – we took the little handset with us and retired to our bedroom. I removed my shirt and hung it on the clothes rack on the wall, when I felt two muscular hands grab me by the waist and spin me around. "I believe you owe me a little something….."

I grinned cheekily at Roger and kissed his nose. "Yes I believe I do," I mumbled as he captured my lips in a deep kiss. I removed my pants and boxers while I kissed him, and then we broke away to remove all his clothes. In one quick movement, I was lying in bed on my back with Roger on top of me, kissing my neck. I moaned in delight as he ran his warm tongue along the soft parts of my neck and shoulder, and then started licking and sucking my nipples until they were stiff and hard. I gasped out loud as I felt his tongue tango with my nipples, gently nibbling and sucking them with his teeth. I tried to make my voice work:

"Rog, baby……please. I want you…..inside me……_now_." Grinning seductively, Roger broke opened two rubbers and rolled them over each of our cocks. We gazed at each other, our eyes dark with lust and desire, as he slowly slid his gigantic cock into my entrance. I bit my lips and tried not to moan too loud, in case Joshua woke up. I moaned a little softer this time as Roger thrust into me in a smooth rhythm, whispering my name with every movement and telling me how beautiful I was. I ran my hands up and down his chest as I moaned his name with every thrust. When we were finally at the edge, Roger exploded into the condom screaming, "Ohhhh God, MMAAAAAAAARRKK!", then I came a few seconds later, whimpering his name, as I felt him inside my body. Roger then collapsed on top of me as we both tried to catch our breaths. Smiling at him, I pulled him out, disposed of the condoms, wiped us up with tissues and laid myself right next to him. He wrapped his strong arms around me and held me close to him.

"Wow Mommy, you were fucking _amazing_," he purred, grinning.

I grinned back and wrapped my arms around his waist. "Thanks Daddy. So were you."

He then pulled me close and kissed me warmly. "God, I love you."

I smiled and kissed him back. "I love you too, baby." I moaned as I felt his tongue tango with mine.

Within a few seconds, we fell asleep in each others' arms, a big smile plastered on my face. We have the perfect little family right here. What could possibly go wrong?

* * *

WOOOHAAA! Oh BTW, _Yeshula_ is like a Jewish affectionate version of the name Joshua. And that song is "I'm With You" by...oh, you know who it's by, don't you? Of course you do. -cheeky grin-


	4. Happy Birthday

Roger's POV.

* * *

_3 years and 7 months later……_

It was around 5 o'clock in the morning when I was running around blowing up balloons and tossing them around the living room. Why balloons, you ask? Well, because Josh was turning 3 years old today. Normally he wakes up at 6 am, which is way earlier than either of us, but because he ate a really heavy dinner last night, he slept more soundly today. So that gave me a chance to decorate the house for tonight's birthday party before he woke up. Mark was in the kitchen, putting the finishing touches on a chocolate sponge cake with sugary flowers on it. When I finally finished the last balloon, I skipped over to the kitchen to see him.

"Hey Marky-poo," I whispered as I slid my arms around his waist from behind. "I'm done blowing the balloons."

"Oh great! Thanks hun," he replied as he patted my cheek from the front.

I spun him around to face me and grinned evilly. "Maybe I can blow _you_ too after that workout session."

Mark's eyes grew as round as basketballs. "Rog, how can you say that? Our little boy is gonna wake up any minute!"

I giggled at him and pulled him closer to me. "Oh c'mon. It'll only take five minutes."

"Yeah yeah, it always takes only five minutes with you anyway," he mumbled as he tried to swat my face away.

I fake-pouted at him. "Ohh pretty please? I just wanna _taste_ you…" I shoved my face into the crook of his neck and started licking his skin.

"Roger, _stop it_!" hissed my scrawny Jewish husband as he tried to shake me off. But nothing could hide the fact that his body really wanted this. But a minute later, we were interrupted by the sound of a bed creaking.

"That's him," whispered Mark. "C'mon let's go."

Tip-toeing into his bedroom with some balloons in hand, we could see our little boy, clad in Superman pyjamas with his sand-coloured hair completely tousled, sitting up in bed. He was busy rubbing his eyes with one hand and yawning, but suddenly his eyes shot wide open and his hand froze as he saw the colourful balloons that we carried in our hands. Before he could move a muscle, we both yelled:

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOSHUA!"

Josh just squealed with delight as we both scooped him into our arms and hugged him tightly. His eyes were popping right out of his head and he had a huge smile on his face. He threw his little arms around my shoulders and hugged me tightly, squealing "Da da!" I hugged him back and kissed his forehead.

"Hey there, little buddy," I whispered as I hugged him back and stroked his hair. Mark took him from my arms, kissed his cheek and held him close, whispering:

"Happy birthday, _Yeshula_". Josh hugged him back and rested his little head on his shoulder, whispering "_Ahh-baaa_". I could see my husband's eyes cloud up with tears as Josh said this. I kissed Mark gently and looked into his eyes.

"C'mon baby", I said to him and I pulled him to his feet. "Time to make this little guy a yummy breakfast."

Mark wiped his eyes from under his glasses and smiled at me. "Yeah, I'm sorry. Let's go."

We each took Josh's hands and helped him walk into the kitchen through the 'living room', where his eyes grew wide again and he squealed even louder as he feasted his eyes on the numerous balloons that adorned the walls and ceilings. Josh giggled with delight as he watched us make him his favourite breakfast: waffles with maple syrup and sliced strawberries on top. I smiled as I watched him go "MMMMMmmmm" as he happily devoured the waffles, but I remembered that I had a band rehearsal that day, so I thought I'd finish it now so I'd be free in the evening to celebrate his birthday. So I grabbed the car keys, threw on my leather jacket, kissed my husband and son goodbye and walked out of the loft. I sighed deeply. It was the best feeling in the world: having a family of your own to love and look after.

* * *

6.00 pm. The whole gang came by with loads of presents. Maureen and Joanne came first, with Maureen carrying baby Leana on her hips. Both girls hugged Josh and wished him a happy birthday, to which he responded with a "Fank Ooo (thank you)". Maureen carefully placed Leana on the floor, who crawled up to me and grabbed my leg in her little hands. I chuckled and picked her up.

"Hey Lea," I cooed as I brushed her walnut-brown fringe away from her face. She looked absolutely adorable in her little yellow dress, shiny white shoes and a matching yellow flower-clip in her hair. Josh, all decked out in little blue jeans and a little "I love the Well Hungarians" t-shirt which I had specially made for him, looked at Leana with a huge smile on his face. Well why not? She looked so cute. Leana babbled loudly and tried to stick her finger up my nose, a cute frown forming on her face. _Oh man, she's already a drama queen like Maureen_, I thought, laughing.

Collins walked in next, and Josh screamed in delight as the professor scooped him into his arms and spun him around. Josh hugged him tightly and giggled and as Collins tickled him under his arms. "Hey there, happy birthday little dude," he said in his warm, good-natured voice as he carried Josh and positioned him on his waist. Mimi walked in next, hugging and kissing Josh, who smiled shyly at her. No Benny tonight, though. He probably had to put up with Alison tonight. Chuckling to myself, I laid all the food on the coffee table while Mark placed the chocolate cake near the edge. He then got a blunt knife which he held in his own hand and placed Josh's hand on top. I stuck a single candle in the cake and lit it. I saw how happy Josh looked as he feasted his eyes on the delicious cake in front of him. I smiled as I read the message "Happy 3rd Birthday Josh" written on the front of the cake in pink sugary icing. Little Josh just couldn't contain his joy. We then started singing:

_"Happy birthday to you!_

_Happy birthday to you!_

_Happy birthday dear Joshua!_

_Happy birthday to you!"_

"Ok Josh, remember what I taught you," said Mark and Josh focused his eyes on the candle. I giggled as I remembered watching Mark light a candle and teaching Josh how to blow it off. He _almost_ got it, thought. So tonight, he attempted to put that practice to good use. He blew it once, but the flame didn't budge. He blew it again, this time the flame flickered but it still stayed. Josh pouted and cast his dejected face downward. Mark wrapped his arm around Josh's shoulders and said:

"C'mon Joshy. Remember what I told you. Try again." And so Josh fixed his eyes on the candle, took in a deep breath, and blew with all his might. And this time, the flame went out. Everyone cheered and clapped, but the biggest cheer definitely came from Joshy himself, who clapped his own hands and called us, "Dadaaa! Abaaaa!" with the widest smile on his face. Mark wrapped his arms warmly around his little frame and whispered:

"You can do anything you set your mind to, Joshy. All you have to do is try." I wrapped my arms tightly around Mark and Josh and kissed both of them. But we got a little too caught up in our family moment to realise that Lea somehow got out of Joanne's grasp and shoved her hand right into Josh's cake, then proceeded to lick the chocolate off her hand.

"Lea! That's not _your_ cake!" scolded Joanne and she picked Lea up again, despite her little protests to stick her hand in it again, which sent us into giggles. But fortunately Josh was too happy to care that his cake got messed up, so with a little help from me, he cut his cake with more applause from everybody. And then we all tucked into the food; pizza, garlic bread and chicken nuggets. Mark was struggling to feed Josh as he ran around crazily trying to open his presents.

"_Yeshula_, not now! Please eat first," pleaded Mark as he tried to shove little pieces of chicken into Josh's mouth, which he was happy to eat as long as he got to open his presents. He opened up Collins' first, which was a collection of children's books to read. I raised my eyebrow when I saw that they were for a 4-year-old, but Collins just laughed saying, "Hey don't worry, Rog. The kid's a prodigy. He'll be reading them in no time!" I smiled at him. Yes, our son was indeed very gifted. Next he opened Mimi's, which was a tiny leather Jacket with fake-metal studs in them. Josh giggled with delight as he put it on, with her help, and went to model himself in the mirror. I grinned. He looks like a rock star already. Then came Maureen's and Joanne's, which was an Etch-and-Sketch board. "That'll keep him busy for hours!" said Maureen. I dunno about that, but I guess Josh'll have plenty of fun just playing with the knobs anyway. Then finally Mark and I gave him our present. Josh's eyes grew as big as melons as he saw what he got him: a tiny red scooter fit for his size. He ran to us and hugged us so tightly. We just giggled and hugged him back, kissing his little face. I cupped his cheek in my hand and said:

"Happy birthday Josh. Daddy loves you so much." He just smiled and hugged me again. Mark scooped him up in his arms and whispered, 'Happy birthday Joshy. _Aba_ loves you, more than you'll ever know." The three of us just smiled at each other. Deep in our hearts, we just knew that this special guy was gonna make us so proud.

* * *

Um yeah, as you can see, this chapter is a few years later. Sorry, this is getting boring. I'll try to spice things up a bit more now. 


	5. Middle School

Hey guys, guess what? This time, it's Josh's POV.

* * *

_8 years later….._

**RRRRRRIIIIIIIIIINNNNNGGGGGG!**

"Ok class, remember to read chapter 1 we will discuss the exercise questions at the next class, ok? Have a good day everyone!"

I packed my books into my bag and chuckled to myself as the whole class groaned at my History teacher, Mrs. Winfield, who actually gave us homework on the first day of middle school. But I, for one, didn't mind. The sooner you start, the better, I thought to myself. As I walked out the classroom door with my bag slung over my shoulder, I heard a high, squeaky voice go, "Hey Josh! Wait up!"

I shook my head after that brief moment of temporary deafness and turned to see Leana Johnson-Jefferson, my childhood friend and classmate, run up beside me. "Hey Lea. Enjoy your first day?"

"Enjoy? _Helloooo?_ We just got homework on the first day of school! Isn't that like, illegal?" she whined as she flipped her brown fringe over her forehead and touched up her pink lip gloss. Gosh, she is such a beauty queen _and_ a drama queen. Guess she gets it from Aunt Maureen. She wore ¾ length blue jeans, white shoes with pink sequins all over them; pink star earrings, a sugar-pink singlet and a short, white bolero jacket on it. Her walnut hair was perfectly blow dried and her thick fringe constantly kept falling on her face and she was constantly brushing it off. She yelled a quick "Seeya!" to her new friends, Heather and Mandy, and followed me to the bus stop. Wow, the first day and she's already made friends. I shook my head in disbelief. I wish I could do that, but I'm too much of a wallflower. Everyone says I get that from my _Aba_, who is constantly plastered behind his beloved camera.

We waited by the bus stop outside the school, when Lea asked me, "Hey, Heather's throwing a party at her house this Saturday, just like a welcome thing for the start of high school. You coming?"

I looked at her with one eyebrow raised, "Gee I'd love to, but I gotta read History and Science. Besides, I don't think they're my kinda clique."

"Oh come on, Josh! That's why I'm inviting you, so you can be part of a clique! And not just any clique; the _cool_ and _popular_ clique," she added with a grin and a toss of her hair, obviously referring to herself.

I chuckled at her. "I dunno. I'll have to think about it." Just then, I was interrupted by a tap on my shoulder. I turned around and saw a boy, who I recognised from my History class. He had brown hair and eyes and he looked a bit lost. "Um hi. Do you know which bus goes to Alphabet City?"

"Oh that's the one coming in 5 minutes. That's where we're headed anyway, so we'll show you," I said to him, sensing that he was new to this place. "Oh by the way, I'm Josh Cohen-Davis and this is my friend, Leana Johnson-Jefferson." I gestured to myself and Lea respectively.

"Hey" said Lea distractedly as she checked her reflection in her compact mirror.

"Hey, I'm Sean Taylor" said the boy, with a little wave. "I know we're in History together. You know, it's my favourite subject."

"Really? Mine too," I said to him. Sean smiled. Obviously, he seemed like the wallflower type too and was happy to have found a friend. I smiled back.

Just then our bus came, and we all got on. While on the bus, Lea sat behind me chatting to another girl that she met today. Sean and I sat together and talked about ourselves.

"Well, my parents and I are originally from Westport, which is like a really rich area, but my dad went bankrupt after he made some really bad financial choices, so we were forced to move to Alphabet City. My parents don't like it too much, and neither does my little brother, but I don't mind. It's kinda cool. I get really intrigued by all the artists that live there," Sean told me. "So, what about you? Your folks been here long?"

I took a deep breath, and said, "Yeah, my parents knew each other in high school, and they left home and came here together to live. So they've been here since before I was born, and so I just grew up here."

"Hmm, interesting," said Sean. I almost knew what he was gonna ask next, and I was dreading it. But I braced myself. "So what do your parents do?"

"Well….." I hesitantly began. "My dad sings and plays guitar for a local band called the Well Hungarians."

"Whoa, a rock star dad? That's way cool!" his eyes lit up with excitement as he spoke. "And your mom?"

Oh crap. Well, here goes. "I, uh…..I….don't have a mom. I have another dad, whom I call _Aba_, because he's Jewish. He's an amateur filmmaker and an on-site cameraman for _Buzzline_." There, I said it. I chewed my lip, preparing for his look of disgust.

But no, instead what I saw on his face was more of a look of curiosity and intrigue. Not that I'm ashamed of them or anything. I always knew I was a little different from other kids because they had a mom and a dad and I had two dads, but deep down, I never felt that different. I mean, Dad is the one who pays the bills and provides for us, and _Aba_ is the one who cooks and cleans and goes all motherly on us every time either of us does something stupid or unpleasant. So in a way, they're really not very different to the other parents that I've seen. And I do love them both very much. If they hadn't taken me in and adopted me, I probably would've rotted in that orphanage until I became a juvenile delinquent, for all I know. But they've looked after me and loved me so well, I just don't care whether they're normal or not. We're a family, and I guess that's the most important thing. Plus, they have the quirkiest but coolest bunch of friends, which included Aunty Maureen and Aunty Joanne a.k.a Lea's parents.

"Really?" asked Sean, in a genuinely interested tone. "I've never met anyone with same-sex parents before. What're they like?"

"Well believe it or not, they're no different to the regular parents that you or any other kid may have. Once you meet them, you'll understand."

"I hope I get to meet them," said he, clutching his bag in his arms and the bus came to a halt. "Well uh, this looks like my stop." Which was one stop before Lea's and my stop. "Hey it was great meeting you. See you in class tomorrow?"

"Sure thing!" I said as he slid himself out of his seat. "Bye Josh. Bye Lea!"

"Bye!" said Lea, as Sean gave a small wave and descended the bus steps. I smiled as Lea sat next to me.

"Well, somebody's found a little friend," she said, grinning at me.

"He seems like a cool kid," I said, slinging my bag over my shoulder. Lea and I got up when we the bus was approaching our stop, and we got off, where I was greeted by Dad waiting at the stop for me. He smiled widely at me and I walked toward him.

"Hey there, Joshman!" said Dad as he gave me a big hug. I hugged him back and smiled. "Hey Dad."

"Had a good first day?" he asked me. I nodded, smiling. "Hey Leana!"

"Hi Uncle Rog" said Lea and she tossed her fringe again and adjusted her bag-pack over her shoulder. "How you doin?"

"Not bad. You wanna ride home?" Dad gestured to our car, a second-generation blue Taurus, which was parked on the little side street.

"No thanks, I'm cool. I can walk home," she said and she turned and walked down the street. "Seeya later!" She waved at us.

We both said goodbye to her, then turned to face each other.

"So," said Dad, his olive-green eyes gazing at me. "Wanna grab some ice cream before heading home?"

I raised an eyebrow. "Wouldn't _Aba_ object to that?"

Dad giggled mischievously. "Don't worry, son. _Aba's_ at work. Won't be home for a couple of hours at least."

I giggled back, amused at how much of an inner child he had. "Ok let's go then!" I said to him as we got into the car and headed for the Life Café.

* * *

Ok guys, as you can see, I'm skipping years, but only to make it more interesting. Whatever happens in between, I will leave to your imagination. And before anyone asks me again, _Aba_ is the Hebrew word for Dad, and cince Mark's Jewish I thought that would work. So hopefully ya'll gonna stop asking me now. -chuckles- 


	6. Dinner

Josh's POV still.

* * *

Dad and I walked into the Life Café and sat on a seat near the window. I placed my bag on the empty seat next to me as Dad sat across from me. The waiter then came by to take our orders; I ordered a single scoop of vanilla ice cream with maple syrup on top while Dad ordered a chocolate milkshake. I chuckled at him and his sweet tooth, which is something he apparently hasn't lost since his childhood. I sat back and gazed at the scene outside the café window; homeless people living in makeshifts tents, trying to warm themselves by small fires. I was always amazed how this city had people like them who had nothing except the clothes on their backs and people like us who actually had enough money to afford a decent lifestyle. I can see why _Aba_ would append all his time filming these people; they're so intriguing to look at. I was suddenly jolted out of my thoughts by my Dad's question:

"So, what did you do today?"

I turned my head to face him, "Oh nothing. Just regular first day stuff. Getting to know the teachers and the school syllabus and the school facilities. I got homework in History class today."

Dad grinned at me. "And I take it that you, being the little geek you are, will be enjoying it?"

"Dad!" I giggled, playfully swatting him in the arm. "I'll have you know that I _enjoy_ being a geek." Just then, the waiter came with our orders.

"I know," said Dad as he slurped his first sip of milkshake and smiled at me. "You _and_ your _Aba_. That's what I love so much about you too. Always so dedicated to the things you enjoy." He squeezed my arm gently, his olive eyes sparkling.

I blushed and spooned some ice cream into my mouth. I loved watching Dad's or _Aba's_ eyes light up every time they talked about it other. Sure, it was a little sappy, but I found it amazing how they loved each other so much especially after all these years. Almost makes me jealous sometimes. I wish _I_ could find someone to love me like that.

Dad continued to slurp his milkshake. "So…..made any new friends?"

I licked the maple syrup off my spoon. "Well yeah. There's this one boy in my History class, Sean Taylor, who's just new to this city. We just started talking today. He seems pretty nice. Oh and Lea made a couple of friends too, and one of them are having a party this Saturday at her house to like, mark the start of middle school, and of course Lea's going. You know her."

"Good, good. Sounds interesting," said Dad as he drained the last sip of his milkshake. "Why don't you go with her?"

"I dunno, Dad." I crinkled my forehead and finished my ice cream. "I don't really like the popular crowd. Besides, I got homework."

Dad raised an eyebrow at me. "Josh, knowing you, you can finish that homework in a matter of hours. And besides, we want you to make friends and have fun with them. And a party's a great place to start."

I sighed. "Alright then. I'll see how I go." Dad smiled encouragingly at me and patted me hand. He then paid the bill and we left the café and drove home.

* * *

About 2 and a ½ hours later, _Aba_ came home, his beloved brown jacket covering most of his face. I shook my head and grinned, unable to understand how he could wear a jacket like that when it was so humid outside. He hugged me tightly and kissed my cheek as I walked into the kitchen to greet him. I swear, this guy is not afraid to hug and kiss me even out in public. Guess it takes a real man to do that. And I was very proud that my _Aba_ was one. We got to work in the kitchen, getting dinner ready.

"So, how was your first day _Yeshula_?" he asked, calling me by my childhood nickname.

"Oh it was great." As I washed and peeled a couple of potatoes, I told him about getting homework, meeting Sean and getting invited to Heather's party on Saturday. His forehead crinkled in concern as he covered three chicken breasts in breadcrumbs and cooked them in a pan over the ancient-but-still-working hotplate.

"So, are you actually going to this party?" he said as he chopped the potatoes into cubes kept them next to the pan.

I stood next to him and told him, "Well I wasn't intending to, but Dad suggested that I go."

_Aba_ frowned a little. "Well is Dad aware that there might be underage drinking, debauchery or some other illicit activity going on?"

I rolled my eyes and chuckled at his paranoia. "C'mon _Aba_. I don't think anyone's doing that as of yet. Besides, you know I'm smart enough not to fall into all that crap."

"I know," said _Aba_ as he dished the cooked chicken into three plates and dumped the potatoes in to the pan, adding a little pepper and olive oil into them. "I just worry sometimes. I don't want my precious little boy straying into……"

"Yes _Aba_, I know," I interrupted and wrapped my arms around his shoulders. I knew he was referring to Dad's heroin-phase with an old girlfriend named April, which happened way way _way_ before I was born. Dad told me the story so that I could take a lesson from him and stay away from drugs and people who did them. I was so proud of him for staying clean and looking after all of us like a real man should. "If I _am_ going, I'll be with Lea. We'll look after each other."

"I truly hope so," said _Aba_ as he kissed my temple. He turned off the hotplate, dished the potatoes onto our plates and I carried them and placed them on the table which I just laid just minutes before. At that moment, Dad entered the kitchen after sitting in his room, tinkering with his guitar and writing some new song, and we all sat at the table and started eating.

"So," began _Aba_ as he looked pointedly at Dad. "I hear that you encouraged our son to go to a party?"

Dad chewed his lip as he cut into his chicken. "No Marky, it's not like that. I just wanted him to make some friends. You know, come out of his shell a bit."

_Aba_ gave him a smile that said 'You ass' and 'I love you' at the same time. How he makes a smile like that, I don't know. But how Dad and I actually decipher that smile is an even bigger mystery. _Aba_ chewed on his roast potatoes thoughtfully.

"As long as he goes with Lea and they stick together, and they don't stay too late or if something wrong happens, I don't mind," he said with a small, I-give-in smile.

Dad reached over and gave him a quick kiss across the table as I smiled at them. I loved it when we all came to an understanding like this.

* * *

After dinner, I helped _Aba_ clear the table as Dad cleaned up the kitchen. Once finished, they both settled down on the couch while I helped myself to a mini Milky Way, which I ate in the kitchen. I could hear them giggling softly in the living room, so I took a quick peek to see what was so funny. But I regretted my decision as soon as I saw _Aba_ lying on the couch on his back with Dad on top of him, kissing him like mad. I drew my head back into the kitchen, blushing furiously. Sure, it was great to see them so in love with one another, but come on; who in their right mind actually _enjoys_ watching their parents playing smoochy face with each other when they think they're alone? Discarding the empty chocolate wrapper in the dustbin, I yelled at them, "I'm going to my room to study!" and quickly disappeared into my bedroom before I could see them go any further. I giggled to myself as I sat at my study table and opened my homework books. Yup, I feel just like all the other kids. Except for the fact that I'm happy that my parents love each other as much as they love me so I don't find it gross. Nope, not at all. I think they're really cool. 


	7. Party

Josh's POV again.

* * *

"Hey Josh! Lea's here!"

"Coming!" I yelled from my room. After much convincing from Dad, Lea and Aunty Maureen, I decided to go to this party to catch a glimpse of the kind of people I'd be in acquaintance with for the rest of my school life. I looked in the mirror at my outfit; blue jeans with a chain hanging at the waist, a green Placebo t-shirt and a rock-star jacket with metal studs in them that Dad gave me for my last birthday, so I could look like the rock star that he was. I hope it looked okay and not too dorky. I exited my bedroom and entered the living room, where Lea sat at the kitchen table with my parents, waiting for me.

"Hey" she said with a smile once she noticed me.

I barely managed to whisper out a "Hey" when I saw her. She wore a knee-length deep blue skirt, a silver tank top, blue kitten-heeled shoes, a little white handbag and matching earrings and necklace. She wore silvery, fairy-makeup on her face and her hair was in loose sausage curls. I blushed slightly. I never noticed how beautiful she could really be until I saw her at that moment.

"Helloo! Earth to Planet Josh!" giggled my Dad. I shook my head and laughed with embarrassment. "Ready to go?"

"Yep Dad," I said as Lea got off her seat and stood near the door, waiting for me.

"You look pretty good for a geek," said Lea, grinning and winking at me. I blushed again. "C'mon let's go. Mom's waiting for us outside."

Before I could open my mouth to say anything, _Aba_ suddenly came from the bathroom, right on cue. I braced myself, knowing exactly what he was gonna say.

"Ok _Yeshula_ remember, do not drink any alcohol if there is any, and don't eat or drink anything you can't identify. Don't talk to anyone who makes you feel uncomfortable. Don't go to any unknown or dark, quiet places on your own. Make sure you are with people, preferably those who are sober and in their senses. If there is anything wrong, _anything_ at all, of if you're too scared to stay any longer, just call home and we'll be there immediately to pick you up, ok?"

"Yes, _Aba_. I know," I said, giggling at his extra-motherly behaviour. "Don't worry, I'll be fine. I can look after myself _and_ Lea."

"Ok fine, then," said _Aba_ as he paused to take a breath. "Be careful, ok? I love you." he wrapped his arms around me and hugged me tight.

"I love you too, _Aba_" I said as I hugged him back. After he pulled away to hug Lea, I gave Dad a big hug too.

"You too better look after each other," said Dad into my ear.

"Yes Dad, I will," I mumbled into his shoulder. "Love you."

"Love you too," he whispered and let me go. Lea slipped her arm into mine, and we all said our goodbyes to each other before slipping out the door. We got into the Lea's mom's car which was parked just outside the building.

"Hey, honey," she said as we strapped our seat belts into place. "Hi Josh, how are you?"

"I'm great, Aunty Maureen," I said, amazed at how much Lea had in common with her mom. Both were drama queens who loved clothes, makeup and being the centre of attention.

We made small talk as Aunty Maureen drove us to Heather's house. When we finally reached, we got out of the car and I said, "Bye Aunt Maureen! Thanks for the ride?"

"Bye Joshy! Remember to call if you need one back!" she yelled.

"Sure, we will. Bye Mom! Thanks!" said Lea as she blew air kisses to her mom, who made a U-turn and drove herself home.

"You know," said Lea and we walked towards the front door. "Mama didn't want me coming to this party because of the drugs, sex and booze that might be there. Lucky for me, Mom has an almost hypnotic power over her."

We both giggled as I rang the doorbell. "Same here. Dad was happy for me to come so I could meet new people, but _Aba_ was just as scared as your Mama for all the above reasons. But, I guess Dad managed to convince him otherwise."

Just then, the door opened, and there stood Heather. Man, she looked like a psychotic Barbie doll. Her hair was in two poofy ponytails tied in pink ribbons, she had on a pink miniskirt and pink and white tank top and pale pink makeup on her face. She and Lea squealed like pigs when they hugged and greeted each other. She mumbled out a "Hey Josh. Make yourself comfy" while her face was buried in Lea's curls. I walked into the living room and there they were: the cool, popular, beautiful people. The elite of the American school. I felt out of place as soon as I looked at them. But to my delight, there was Sean sitting in the corner, sipping a can of Coke. His face broke into a smile as soon as he saw me.

"Hey Sean!" I said as I shook his hand in greeting. "What are you doing here? I didn't think this was your kinda group."

"Well it's not," he said, an embarrassed smile crossing his face. "I kinda heard that you were gonna be here so I came."

I was glad to hear that. "Well now that I'm here, you ain't gonna be alone."

Sean got me a can of Coke and we just sat there talking to one another. Just then, I heard someone yelled "Fag Boy!" across the room. I turned my head and saw a boy with spiked blond hair, a football jacket and a mean smirk on his face. Clearly this had to be the captain of the school football team. He was surrounded by a group of boys wearing the same jacket and the same smirk on their faces.

"How's Daddy and Daddy been?" he taunted. "Busy fucking each other's brains out on the kitchen table?" the boys around him laughed and snorted as he said this.

I turned my head to face Sean, our faces full of anger and dread. Wow, this was going to be a long night……


	8. Drunk

Still Josh.

* * *

I glared at the stupid jock that kept laughing with his friends and smirking at me all night long. Who the fuck does he think he is? Just because I don't have heterosexual parents like he does? I'd love to see how much _he_ respects his own parents.

"That's Kevin Graham, the football team's captain. Apparently he has every girl in the grade swooning over him. Thinks he's _all man_," said Sean, as if reading my thoughts, while eating a slice of pepperoni pizza.

I helped myself to a slice and started chewing on it, but suddenly I didn't feel so hungry. "I _hate_ it when people make fun of me just because I have two dads. I mean, what's the big deal anyway? It's not like they grope me or anything. You know, they've looked after me and loved me so well all these years. Not once did they ever _ever_ show me any less love than what straight parents would show. I never felt like I was missing out on anything, thanks to them," I told him, my voice breaking a little.

Sean gave a small, encouraging smile. "Hey buddy, don't sweat it," he said, placing his hand on my shoulder. "He's nothing but a big old jerk from, what I've seen of him. I'm never gonna make fun of you or your parents. Besides, I think you're far luckier than I am, anyway." I smiled back and patted him arm as a thank-you. I felt better already. As long as I had a friend by my side, I could handle anything.

* * *

After about two hours of drinking sodas and playing darts in the basement with Sean, I decided it was time to leave. I walked up into the living room, to look for Lea, but I couldn't find her anywhere. I scanned the entire living room worriedly, but she was nowhere to be found. I went to search the backyard when I heard Sean yell, "Hey! She's over here!"

I ran in the direction of Sean's voice, which was coming from the dining room, and oh my fucking G-d! I couldn't believe I was actually looking at Kevin pinning Leana – _my_ Leana – against the wall of the kitchen and making out with her. Sean stood in the doorway, looking at me and them with a scared expression on his face. My face went hot with rage when I saw that football creep beginning to slide his hand up her skirt. Suddenly, I just snapped. I picked up a wooden that was lying on the kitchen worktop and smacked him hard in the shoulder from behind. He immediately broke off from her and turned to face me, his brown eyes glaring at me. I crinkled my nose in displeasure, the wooden dropping to the ground. The way his breath smelled, clearly he had been drinking.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing, Fag Boy?" he hissed. "Huh? What the _fuck_ do you want?"

"Let her go, you disgusting animal," I spat, unable to keep my anger down. "Don't you dare lay even a _fingernail_ on her."

"Or else what? What you gonna do, Fag Boy? Queer Junior? You gonna prick me with a nail file? Or are you gonna call your little fairy daddies to scratch me up with their perfectly manicured nails?" he taunted, obviously enjoying my reaction.

This was too much for me. "SHUT UP YOU ASSHOLE!" I screamed as I picked up the wooden spoon and flung it at it head without even thinking. Sean, Lea and I watched in horror as we watched a single drop of blood flow from the spot where the spoon hit him. In that moment, he lost it too. He picked up his bottle of beer and threw it right at me in rage, staggering a little bit and falling down on his back. Fortunately, I was unharmed as it fell against the wall and broke into many pieces, but my clothes were completely drenched in beer. Great. Now _I_ reeked of it too. I ran to Lea and hugged her tightly, smoothing her hair as Sean joined us after a while.

"I called your home number while all that was happening," he said slowly, his hand gently rubbing Lea's back. "You parents are gonna be here soon to pick you guys up."

"Thank you," I mumbled, as I buried my face further into Lea's blonde locks and stroked her neck. "It's okay, Lea. I'm here. We're gonna go home now," I whispered to her and kissed her cheek.

"Thank you Joshy," she mumbled between sobs. "Thank you. I'm so sorry. God, I was such an idiot."

I kept my grip on her and rubbed her back. I looked at Kevin, who was completely passed out on the kitchen floor. "It's funny how he couldn't accept my gay parents but he didn't seem to have a problem with your lesbian parents."

"That's the thing," she said hesitantly. "I didn't tell him about them."

"**What?"** I held her at arms length and stared at her. "What did you tell him then?"

Her voice shook as she spoke. "I….uh, I told him that Joanne is my real mom and that Maureen is my aunt from my dad's side who helps her raise me."

I shook my head in disbelief. "Leana, how can you lie like that? They're your parents!"

"I _know_!" she yelled, her eyes filling up with tears and her silvery makeup running down her face in streaks. "But they're the cool, popular kids. If I tell them now, they'll never wanna talk to me. Let me get to know them first, _then_ I'll tell them. Please Josh? Please?"

I sighed, defeatedly. "Ok fine. As long as you _do_ tell them." She nodded and within minutes, she was in my arms again.

Just then, we were interrupted by a car horn honking from outside. Some of the kids who heard what happened in the kitchen started staring at us, but I just didn't care. Lea and I ran outside the house, followed by Sean, and were met by a blue Taurus parked on the street, a scared Dad and a very angry but worried _Aba_. I gulped as _Aba_ walked up to me, but relaxed a little as he scooped me up in his arms and hugged me till my face was blue.

"Oh my God! _Yeshula_, are you ok?" he babbled, not bothering to take a breath."I _told_ you not to go there! I _told_ you there'd be alcohol there. Why didn't you listen?" he yelled into my ear. "And why the hell do you smell like beer? Have you been drinking it?" He pulled away and gave me a glare angry enough to melt the entire Himalayan range.

"I didn't drink any _Aba_, I swear! This stupid football captain threw it at me! He was being such a jerk!" I shrieked defensively. "He was touching Lea rudely too! I was just trying to defend her! I didn't mean for anything to happen!"

_Aba's_ eyes were always hiding behind his glasses, but I could still feel the anger contained in them. Dad ran to me and held me so tightly, stroking my back and kissing my cheek. _Aba_ glared at both of us this time; Dad for convincing me to go to the damn party and me for actually going. He put his hands on his hips and spoke coolly. "Roger, let's take Leana home. We'll deal with our son then."

I pulled away and walked over to Sean, who was still stood frozen with fear. "Will you be okay?" I asked him.

He nodded. "Yeah yeah, I will. My dad's coming to pick me up too." He gestured to a flashy silver Porche making its way to the beginning of the street. I gave him a quick hug and said:

"Seeya in school, dude. And thanks again. You really saved us both." He smiled as waved at Lea and me as we got into the car, with Lea and I in the back seat, and my arm around her shoulder. Dad sat behind the wheel, giving us both sympathetic looks through the rear view mirror, while _Aba_ sat next to him fuming, his arms crossed firmly across his chest. I could almost feel what he was feeling. A whole mixture of emotions; anger for me going to the party, fear of what would be at the party, worry over what I would do there, and relief that I got out of all of it unscathed. I took a deep breath. I felt angry at myself too, for disappointing my parents the way I did. I should never have gone to this party. _Never_.

* * *

Oh goodness me! Whatever happens next?...-cackles- 


	9. Fight

Mark's POV.

After dropping Lea home to Maureen and Joanne, we drove towards our home. Once inside the loft, Josh hung his jacket wordlessly on the coat rack and tried to scurry into his room when I stopped him. "_Yeshula_, before you go into your room, I'd like to speak with you first. Can you sit on the couch please?"

Josh turned around slowly, his eyes cast downward, and took his own time getting to the couch and sitting on it. His legs were clasped tightly together and his arms were wrapped around them. I sat on the coffee table across from him and asked him, "Josh, I need you to tell me exactly what happened at that party."

Josh just sat there, breathing heavily, and not saying a word. I tried again. "Josh, I asked you something and I expect you to answer me. Can you please just look at me?"

He slowly lifted his head, his cheeks shining with tear stains, and fixed his greyish-green eyes on my husband who was standing behind me. He then focused his eyes on me, gulped deeply, and began:

"Well, when we got there, Lea went off with Heather and I sat and talked to Sean, who was also there. Then the captain of the football team…his...name's Kevin Graham…started making and fun of me and…..calling me rude names like 'fag boy' and 'queer junior'. So Sean and I left to go play darts….in the basement. Then after two hours, I went to go look for Lea so we could leave, and……I found Kevin making out with her in the kitchen. He was drunk, and….trying to stick his….hand….up her skirt." He sniffed and let out a small sob. "So I just lost it and hit him in the arm with a wooden spoon. Then he got really mad….and started calling me nasty names….again. That made me even angrier, so I threw the wooden spoon at his head without even thinking. And then he….threw his beer bottle at me…..and passed out, on the floor. _That's_ why I smell of it." He frantically wiped his tears away and blinked. At least he had a genuine story.

I softened my tone a bit. "Look Josh, I'm proud of you for defending yourself and Lea, but did you _have_ to get physical?"

Suddenly, Josh stood up and looked me square in the eye, his voice getting considerably louder. "What the hell else was I supposed to do, _Aba_? How do you expect me to frickin' react when that jerkass was deliberately trying to hurt the two people I love most, huh? I couldn't think of anything else to do! You want me to just shut up and take it like a wuss?" And with another sob, he stormed off to his bedroom.

"_Yeshula_, wait!" I called after him, but it was too late. He already slammed his door shut. I sighed and plopped myself on the couch. Roger slowly came near me and tried to wrap his arm around my shoulder when I snapped, "Don't _touch_ me."

Roger blinked incredulously. "What? Why, Mark?"

I stood away from him and glared at him. "_You're_ the one who made him go to this party! You know what kind of shit these kids get up to when there no Mommy or Daddy around, but you still made him go there! Did you hear the things our son just said? Why couldn't you just let him make his own decision?"

Roger glared right back at me. "Well, excuuuuuse me for trying to get him to talk to someone _other_ than that journal of his."

I refused to believe him. I yelled at him: "**Don't** you give me that rigmarole, Davis! You want Josh to be a little rock star _just_ like you, don't you? You want him to live that wild, carefree life that you did with all the sex, girls and booze just like you did, _right_? I can see it already! The punk t-shirts, the chains, the leather jacket, constantly taking him to the club with you to show off to your groupies! Do you really think I'm so blind, that I can't see it? Huh? Do you also know that that's what got you into heroin and made you HIV? Do you? And this is the kind of fucked-up life you're trying to expose out son to?"

Roger growled like a wild beast. "How _dare_ you say that, Mark? You really think I'm trying to ruin our son's life? And how could you bring my past into this? I thought you forgave me for all those times of getting high with April. Why are you throwing it back at me again? You think you're the only one who loves Josh? Well guess what mister, **so do I!**" His olive-green eyes blazed with anger and his breathing became heavier. "I just want him to get out into the world and talk to some people instead of just sitting in his room stuck behind his journal the way _you're_ stuck behind your goddamn camera!"

That was all I needed to shut him off for good. I had nothing more to say to an asshole like him who refuses to protect our only son from potential danger. I walked into our bedroom, picked up one pillow and a blanket, entered the living room and threw them at his face. After muttering, "I don't want to see your face. Sleep on the fuckin' couch tonight", I retreated into our bedroom and slammed the door behind me. What shit luck. If I couldn't even trust my own husband to make sure our son was safe, who else could I trust?


	10. Here For You

Josh's POV.

* * *

I curled myself into a ball and laid on my bed, trembling while I heard my parents arguing in the living room. What have I done? How could I do this to them? I wiped my tears away with my sleeve as I mentally kicked myself. Why the hell did I go to that party? Look how I've disappointed them now. They're fighting because of me. They're fighting because I fucked up badly. I got up from my bed, retrieved my blue journal from my school bag, flipped it open and began spilling my thoughts into it:

_Rock a bye baby_

_Safe in his tree,_

_Feeling love and comfort,_

_So happy and free._

_Rock a bye baby_

_A storm hit the sky,_

_Destroyed the tree_

_And made baby cry._

_Tears flow freely_

_As the evil storm,_

_Swipes up his family_

_Leaving him alone._

I sat there on the bed, journal on my lap and pen danglingin between my fingers. I heaved a huge sigh of relief once I could no longer hear any yelling. I put my journal back in my bag, changed into my pyjamas, and crawled into bed. After cursing at myself for yelling at _Aba_ the way I did, I cried softly until I eventually drifted off to sleep.

* * *

The next morning I woke up, showered and got dressed as usual. I wore black jeans, a blue Charlie Brown sweatshirt and my leather jacket. Stuffing my journal and pen into the huge inside pocket of the jacket, I tiptoed into the living room to find Dad lying on the couch. His legs and left arm were hanging right off the side and the blanket was more on the floor and on him. I cringed thinking how uncomfortable he must have been, then I gulped deeply, remembering that it was my fault _Aba_ made Dad sleep on the couch at night. Just then, their bedroom door opened and out walked _Aba_, in a white shirt and grey sweatpants, busy rubbing his eyes and putting on his glasses. I ran up to him and threw his arms around his skinny frame, hugging him tightly.

"I'm sorry _Aba_! I'm so sorry for yelling at you last night. I didn't mean to. I was only trying to stand up for you guys. I promise I'll never yell at you or get angry again. I'm really sorry. I love you _so_ much," I blubbered as I buried my face into his shoulder.

"Ohhhh _Yeshula_, don't cry! I love you too. It's not your fault, baby. _Honest_. I'm not angry with you at all. Please don't cry," he mumbled as he hugged me back so tightly, his hand gently caressing my hair.

I sniffled. "And I'm sorry I made you and Dad fight."

He pulled away, wiped my tears from my face and looked straight into my eyes. "Don't Josh, please. I _said_ it's not your fault. Please stop apologizing. We weren't arguing because of you. It was about……some of the things that happened much before you were born. But don't worry. Dad and I fight all the time. We'll be okay, I promise." He kissed my forehead and smiled to try and lift my spirits, whispering, "I love you so much." I smiled back, but I wasn't quite convinced if he was telling me the truth. But I mumbled an 'okay' nonetheless.

_Aba_ wiped his eyes quickly, thinking I didn't notice when really I did. "Thank you, _Yeshula_. So, how about some breakfast then?"

Before I could answer, he was already in the kitchen making me waffles with maple syrup and strawberries on top, my favourite breakfast ever since I could eat solid foods. It looked and smelled absolutely delicious when he dished them into my plate, but somehow I just couldn't bring myself to eat it. My hunger was replaced by a sick, scared feeling at the pit of my stomach that maybe I had caused a huge bump in my parents' relationship. But I ate anyway, swallowing the food which felt like lumps of clay, and I watched Dad as he tossed and turned trying to get comfortable on the sofa and _Aba_ trying to edit his latest documentary quietly in the corner without so much even looking at Dad. I quickly blinked away my tears, placed my dishes in the sink and said to _Aba_, "I'm going to the park," and closed the sliding door behind me.

* * *

I walked the streets of Alphabet City in a daze, my hands deep in my pockets. _Aba_ may have forgiven me for what I did, but I still couldn't forgive myself. I had these two amazing parents who took me in to love and raise me as their own and make their relationship stronger and now I just ruined it for them. I kept walking until I found the building that I was looking for, and walked up the dark, dingy steps. I knocked on the door a couple of times; stopping when I heard a deep, muffled voice say, "Hold on, I'm comin'!" The door opened, and there stood the person whom I knew would always be there whenever I needed to talk.

"Hey Joshman! How you doin', little buddy?"

I smiled in relief. "Hi Uncle Collins. Are you busy?"

Uncle Collins smiled widely at me. "Not at all, dude. I _always_ have time for you." He pulled me into one of his famous bear hugs, which I absolutely loved, and I hugged him right back. He guided me into his apartment, closed the door and told me to sit down. I sat on the single seater and examined all the IT magazines that lay sprawled on the table and floor.

He opened the fridge and asked me, "D'ya want something to drink? I got orange soda."

I mumbled a 'yes please' to Uncle Collins, who opened the can and handed it to me, smiling once again. I thanked him and slowly sipped the sugary drink, thinking about how I was gonna start talking. After getting himself a can, Uncle Collins sat himself in the seat adjacent to me and asked, "So, what brings you to my humble lair?"

I bit my lip. "It's my parents. We...…I mean, I…..I messed up big time last night and now they're mad at each other. They were fighting like crazy last night, and _Aba_ made Dad sleep on the couch. And now they're barely speaking to each other." My voice shook as I spoke. "Oh God, if only I hadn't…."

Uncle Collins was next to me in a second, kneeling on the floor and gently rubbing my arm. "Look Josh, I understand how you feel. But let me tell you that it's perfectly normal, okay? Couples fight all the time. That's what keeps their love strong. Angel and I used to have our fair share of fights, if I remember correctly. But no matter what happened, we always made up in the end; especially at night." He winked and nudged me in the arm. I giggled softly, my face getting warm. "Do you know why? Because we loved each other so much, we couldn't bear to hurt each other or be without each other for long. Because of the illness that we both suffered, we made it a point to enjoy every moment that we had. And we did, ever since Angel started to get sicker and sicker."

I was transfixed as I watched him tell the story about his love, tears brimming in both our eyes. I wrapped my arm around his shoulder and handed him a tissue, which he used to wipe his tears. But I knew that it would take a lot more than a box of Kleenex to ease his pain. He continued, "From then on, I spent every waking moment telling her how much I loved her and how much she meant to me. She may be gone, but I know that her spirit is still alive and pumping; in this flat, in the loft, heck, in this whole damn city! Everywhere I go, I feel her. Because I love her so much and I'm keeping her memory alive. Despite all the arguments we had, we never lost the love that we shared. And I _know_ that Mark and Roger won't either. They've been my best friends for a long time, and I know how much those bitches really love each other, even if they have fights. They're your parents and they love you more than anything, Josh. Whatever happens between them, please remember that it's not your fault, okay? It's _never_ your fault. Just be there for them and let them know that you love them every chance you get. I'm sure everything will be just fine." He wiped his face dry and smiled sadly at me.

I smiled right back through my tears. "Ok, I will. Thank you, Uncle Collins. Thank you so much for being there for me," I mumbled into his shoulder as I hugged him tightly.

Uncle Collins wrapped his arms around my smaller frame and hugged me so hard. "Anytime, Joshy. Whenever you need a friend, I'm always here. Don't you _ever_ forget that."

"I never will. Thank you so much." After we pulled away, I waved him goodbye and exited his apartment. I walked back towards the loft with a little more hope this time. I hoped to God that Uncle Collins was right and that this whole thing would blow over.

* * *

There ya go. Collins obviously still has HIV, in case anyone is wondering. That poem, I wrote itmyself especially for Josh. Some if this chapter is based on a few personal experiences of mine, so yeah... 


	11. Anger

Josh's POV.

_I'm sure everything will be just fine……_

I walked tentatively up the stairs, hoping that Uncle Collins' words were true and that things would be okay between _Aba_ and Dad. I braced myself as I slid open the loft door slowly, and I suddenly froze when I saw both my parents standing in the living room and glaring at each other. Dad was just about to say something nasty when they noticed that I was home. In an instant, they relaxed and put on fake smiles for me, thinking I didn't know what was going on. Dad walked up to me and hugged me, and said, "Hey buddy, I just came up with this great melody on my guitar but I'm finding it hard to get some lyrics to go with it. Think you can help me out with that?"

"Sure thing, Dad," I replied, plastering a smile on my face for his sake. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see _Aba_ go back to editing his film in the corner of the living room, a hurtful expression in his eyes. As soon as Dad went to his room to tune his guitar, I went and sat down next to _Aba_, and hugged him tightly.

"Is everything okay, _Aba_?" I asked him and he hugged me back. "Did you manage to work things out?"

_Aba_ smiled sadly at me and wiped his eye from under his glasses. "Yes we did, _Yeshula_. We're fine. It's just….gonna…take some time. That's all. Please stop worrying about us." He then pulled me close and kissed my forehead. "Say, why don't we go to the Life for dinner tonight? Just us and the gang?"

I smiled, but still couldn't get rid of that knotted feeling in the pit of my stomach. "Okay, _Aba_. Sounds great." Just then Dad entered the living room with his guitar and sat in his favourite place next to the giant window. I sat across from him and wrote down whatever I could to go with the music, praying silently to myself that everything really would be okay.

* * *

_Roger's POV._

The three of us sat at our table in the Life cafe that evening, Mark next to me, and Josh on the seat across from us, and the silence between us so thick you could cut it with a meat cleaver. Josh shifted uncomfortably in his seat as he looked at us with worry in his eyes. I felt so sorry for him, to put him through our problems. Albeit he _was_ our son and had a right to know what was going on, I could see that the tension between us was starting to affect him. I reached across the table to squeeze his hand, and he offered me a small smile in return. But all I got in return was an apprehensive glare from my husband.

"What?" I asked him, annoyed at his reaction. What the fuck was he getting so huffy about now?

Before he could open his mouth, the door of the cafe flew open and in walked Collins, Maureen, Joanne and Leana (Mimi couldn't come because she had to work a longer shift that night). The three of us sighed in relief and smiled as our friends grabbed extra tables and chairs and put them all together for us. Collins sat on the other side of me, Maureen and Joanne sat next to Mark and Lea sat with Josh. We gave our orders to the waiter and made small talk with each other. Once our drinks arrived, Collins looked at me with a serious expression.

"So, how's everything going between you two, Rog?" he asked, taking a sip of beer.

I gave him my most convincing smile. "Oh everything's fine Collins. Why are you asking?"

"C'mon now, dude. You may be foolin' those girls and yourself but ya ain't foolin' me." Damn him for knowing us so well. "Roger, why can't the two of you sort this out? It's starting to scare Josh."

"I _know_ that! But sadly, Mark here thinks I'm trying to turn Josh into a mini-me who drinks anddoes smackand fucks around with groupies, which is not true." Just then, our orders arrived. I took a huge swig of my beer. "I mean, how could I ever do something like that? Everyday that I wake up, I regret letting April take advantage of me. I regret going out with her every night to get high. I regret – "

"Shut up, Roger." Collins interrupted me. "What happened to that motto we believed in? Forget regret, or you won't be able to live a happy life. That's all in the past. Just put it behind you and move on, man."

"Yes Collins, I know," I said, digging into my soy burger. Mark ate his caeser salad as he continued to chat to Maureen and Joanne, ignoring me. I glanced over at Josh, who picked nervously at his club sandwich while Lea chatted on about her eccentric Math teacher. God, how I hated putting him through this. I ordered another beer and fixed my gaze on Mark, who still kept ignoring me. Finally I couldn't take it any longer.

"So, are you done yet?" I asked him.

Mark turned to face me. "Done with what?"

"Ignoring me." His playing-dumb act was really getting under my skin.

Mark crinkled his forehead and frowned at me. "When you use your damn brain and realise exactly what could have happened to our son because of you, then I will be," he snapped.

I scowled at him. "For the millionth time Mark, I am not trying to turn Josh into me. I'm just trying to make him a little bit more social, that's all. He's like you every time you stick that damned camera on your face, he shuts off the world and hides behind his journal so he doesn't have to face the world around him. You know what? If anything, you're trying to make him more like yourself! Detaching from everything and everyone around him so he can hide in a place where nobody can reach him!"

Mark glared daggers at me, his blue eyes turning as cold as ice. "_Fuck_ you, Davis," he spat and turned his back to me. That was it. I could not sit here and take this anymore. If he wanted to be angry, I'll give him something to be fucking angry about. I got up from my seat and walked to the bar where I could catch a glimpse of Tony, the new bar assistant. He was young and probably still innocent, the freckles on his face making him look like a 14-year-old. Just as he finished his shift and hung up his apron, I grabbed him by the arm, pressed him into the corner, and straddled his hips with mine. He gasped and practically fainted on the spot, but I held him up and continued straddling him. Just as I had planned, Mark looked at both of us with a mixture of horror and rage in his eyes. _Ha! _I cackled inside my head_. Now_ he's got a reason to be mad, because now I'm doing something _really_ wrong. He shot up from his seat, strode towards us past all the other patrons and looked me straight in the eye, his eyes practically blazing out of his head.

"Roger, I think it's time we headed home. **Now**." He spoke with clenched teeth, an ice-cold voice and tightly balled-up fists.

I smirked triumphantly. "Ok, cool. I'm ready," I matched his tone. I released Tony, who slunk to the floor in a heap, and walked back to our table where all our friends regarded us with worried expressions. Of course, no one was as worried as Josh, who no doubt saw the whole thing. Poor guy, he really thinks all this is his fault when really it's not. I gently squeezed his shoulder and ruffled his hair.

"Hey there buddy, wanna head home now?" I asked him. He mumbled an 'okay' and we all split the bill and walked our separate ways to our homes, after bidding each other goodbye. I tried to slip my arm around his shoulder as we walked, but he shook me off and slapped me in the face. "Get the fuck away from me!" he hissed.

Josh looked up at me, tears brimming in his dark olive eyes as I put my hand on my cheek. "Dad?" he whispered.

I so badly wanted to say, _don't worry son. Everything's fine_. But I couldn't. Because we both knew that that wasn't true. So I just sighed andhugged him tightlyas we walked back to the loft in silence.

Once inside, we bid Josh goodnight and sent him to his room. Let him get some sleep so he wouldn't have to worry about us. I followed Mark into the bedroom, where we began to change for bed. Finally relenting, I placed an arm around his shoulder and said, "I'm sorry Marky. I didn't mean to do that. Honestly."

Without even turning to look at me, he spoke in that same icy tone. "Don't you _dare_ think that I'm done with you."

I glared at his back. I could already tell this was going to be one hell of a night…..


	12. Goodbye

Josh's POV.

* * *

"What is your fucking problem, Mark? Why am I always the one who fucks things up? You think you're so fucking _perfect_?"

I lay under the covers of my bed, curled up and crying profusely. Oh my God. Look what's happening because of me. Dad and _Aba_ are fighting even more than the last time. I pulled the green duvet over my head and tried to block my ears to the horrible screaming coming from their room. When they sounded like they had quietened down, I heaved a sigh of relief and sat up. I didn't know what else to do, so I did the first thing that came to mind. I knelt on my bed, clasped my hands together and whispered:

"Dear God, I don't know if you're out there or if you're even listening to me, but I can't take this anymore. Please stop my parents from fighting. I love them so much and I don't want anything to happen to them, please. I promise I'll _never_ disappoint them again. Please stop it. _Please_." I whimpered and wiped the tears off my face, then crawled under the covers and fell asleep, as I had to get up early for school tomorrow. I hoped everything would be okay in the morning.

* * *

_**BBBBBEEEEEEEEPPPPPP!**_

I woke up at 7.00 am to the sound of my alarm. I showered, dressed in blue jeans, a Snoopy t-shirt and grabbed my school bag. I walked into the living room expecting to see my parents necking one another in the kitchen like they usually do, but what I saw today shocked and hurt me. Dad was dressed in his ripped jeans, with a chain hanging off the side, a Dirty Sanchez t-shirt and his leather jacket, and placed a suitcase near the loft door. _Aba_ sat silently on the couch, his arms and legs clenched together. I froze. Why did Dad bring a suitcase? What was going on? Just then, _Aba_ saw me and quickly wiped his eyes. He got up from his seat and walked towards me.

"Good morning, _Yeshula_," he said as he hugged me. I backed away from his hug and stared at him.

"What's going on, _Aba_? What's Dad doing?" I babbled too quickly.

_Aba_ took a deep breath and spoke as calmly as he could. "Look Josh, Dad and I have decided that we need some time apart. So – "

"**What?** You're splitting up?" I could feel tears brimming in my eyes, but I blinked them away. _Aba_ gently stroked my hair, a few tears showing up in his eyes too, and continued:

"No Josh, we're not. It's just that, we still have a lot of pain between us that doesn't seem to be going away, so we've decided that we just need to spend some time away from each other. You know, to regenerate and think things through. We can't go on arguing like this every night, so we need this. Just think of it as a little break for us. When we both feel better, we'll get back together."

Break? What fucking break did they need? I struggled to make my voice work. "But Aba, I don't understand. Why? You guys love each other."

"I know, we do." _Aba_ sighed heavily. "And that's why we need this, so we don't keep hurting each other like this." He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me close, as a single tear slid down his cheek. "Please don't blame yourself for this, Joshy. We love you so much. This is not your fault at all. It's just some old wounds from the past, that's all."

I didn't know what to say or do, so I just nodded silently. _Aba_ wiped his tears away, smiled weakly at me and went to the kitchen to make me some toast. But I was far from hungry. I watched as Dad held his suitcase in one hand and slid open the loft door with the other. I ran up to him and grabbed his arm, as the hot tears ran down my face.

"Please don't go Dad, please! I'm sorry! I'll never go to a school party again, I promise! I'm sorry I made you guys fight! Please Dad!" I begged.

Dad turned around and gave me the tightest hug I've ever gotten, his strong muscular arms practically crushing me into his solid frame and his face resting against mine, but I didn't care. I hugged him back and whimpered softly. Dad then pulled away and looked deep into my eyes.

"I'm _so_ sorry to do this to you, little buddy," he mumbled, his voice shaking. "But believe me, it's for the best. We just need to think things through on our own for some time. I promise I'll come back once everything's been smoothed over. We love you _so_ much." And once again, I was back in his arms. I could feel his breath warm on my neck as he softly whispered, "Please take care of yourself and _Aba_ for me, ok?"

I mumbled "Okay" as Dad pulled away from me. He mouthed an 'I love you' to me which I mouthed back, and I watched as a couple of tears slid out of his green eyes and down his face. He turned his gaze briefly to the kitchen, where _Aba_ was making coffee with his back facing us. I felt so hurt at how he could just pretend that nothing was going on. Dad then shifted his gaze back to me, his lips quivering, and whispered, "'Bye Joshua". Giving my arm one last squeeze, he picked up his suitcase and car keys, wiped his face, opened the loft door and shut it behind him. I could hear his footsteps as they got softer and softer and finally no more. I just stood there, staring at the door for the longest time. My Dad's gone. Where; I don't know. When he would come back; no idea. Why...? Why did he have to leave? Why did _Aba_ make him leave? All of a sudden, my grief was replaced with anger. Anger at _Aba_ for sending Dad away when we both loved him and needed him here. Without saying another word, I grabbed my school bag and headed for the door.

"Josh, your toast!" Aba called after me.

"Shove it, _Aba_! I don't want it!" I yelled back at him. I slammed the loft door behind me and walked out of the building. I felt a mixture of anger and pain and guilt and sadness over what just happened there. I felt I was being selfish for thinking about their problems but hey, I needed to be consulted on their decisions too, right? God help me survive through this day……

* * *

Oh dear, what's become of our favourite little family? Stay tuned to find out... -evil witch cackle-


	13. Santa Fe

**Roger's POV.**

I don't know how I fucking survived a whole week, away from my home and my family. After I said goodbye to my beloved son Josh and left the loft, I got into the car and started it up, not even thinking about where I was going. But somehow, I found myself driving to Santa Fe, the same place I ran away when Angel died and Mimi was slowly dying. I sat quietly on the old, battered couch in the middle of my dingy rented apartment, with my guitar in my lap, just thinking about all the things that happened up until this point.

_How did I get here, how the hell?_

This place had somehow become my retreat when things were going wrong in my life and I needed to get away for a while. Only this time, I was pushed away; by Mark, whom I loved and cherished more than anything in my life. But we were hurting each other so much. He thought that I was trying to get Josh to relive _my_ drug-filled glory days which I wasn't fully able to enjoy, but I wasn't doing that at all. It really hurt me to hear the love of my life say such accusing things to me that are not true. So we decided that we really needed to think things over on our own. But I don't have anything to think about. All I know is, I love my Marky and my Josh and I can't live without either of them. But if Mark really wants this then I'm ready to give it to him. Because I love him. As much as it's killing me inside, I'm ready to give him whatever he wants, even at my own expense. I sighed heavily and plucked a few strings of Musetta's Waltz, hoping that that would life my spirits a bit and make me feel a bit more at home. It didn't.

* * *

**Josh's POV.**

Wow, it's been a week. A whole fucking week that Dad hasn't been around. A whole week that I haven't been able to look _Aba_ in the face because he made Dad leave. A whole week I've been struggling to tell my friends Sean and Lea why I've been so depressed lately but failing to do so. A whole week of Kevin "Look At Me I'm Such A Manly Guy" Graham constantly yelling "fag boy" and "queer boy" at me and making lewd gay jokes every time I'm within his line of vision. But I didn't give a shit. Nothing could deter me from worrying about what how I hurt my parents so badly. Today was Friday, the day every school kid waited for, but I was far from excited. I was still furious at _Aba_ for making Dad leave. In the morning, _Aba_ wanted to take me out to the Life for ice cream after school, but I wouldn't let him. That was what _Dad_ and I always did.

"C'mon Josh, it's just ice cream. I know things have been hard on you this past week. I just wanna treat you," he'd said.

"Ohh suuuuure," I'd replied as I slugged down a glass of cold milk. "And let's invite Dad along too. Oh wait I forgot, he's not here! Do you know where he might be?"

Aba sighed. "_Yeshula _son, _please_ don't do this. I'm just trying to do something nice for you."

I glared at him. "Nice, would be if you brought my Dad back home to _us_, where he belongs! Think you can do that?"

"Josh, how many times do I have to tell you that we both need time to think? We still love you, you know!" he'd yelled.

"Well good luck trying to think about something both of you already know but are too chicken-shit to admit! **You can go stick your phoney love where the sun won't shine!**" And with that, I flung my glass into the sink where it split into three pieces, grabbed my school bag and stormed out the door. How the hell did they expect me to believe that they loved me when they were hurting me and themselves like this?

* * *

I couldn't concentrate all day at school. Lea and Sean were both very concerned about me but I still couldn't tell them, even though I so badly wanted to. Finally, just before our last period, English with Mr. Bromley, I turned to Sean in the school hallway and asked:

"Hey Sean, can you cover for me?"

He shifted his bag over his shoulder and asked, "Why? You planning to skip class?"

I sighed. "Yeah. It's just….you know……problems at home. I wanna go see if my Dad's okay."

Sean nodded sympathetically. "I understand. Don't worry, I'll cover you."

I smiled in relief at him, "Thanks buddy. You're a lifesaver." Sean smiled right back. I gave him a quick hug, got a hall pass from Mr. Bromley, and darted out the school as fast as I could. I walked the streets of Alphabet City with my heart pounding in my ears. I hoped I wouldn't get in trouble. I hoped _Aba_ wouldn't hunt me down and kill me. But I just had to do it. I walked into the building that I was looking for me, when I froze at who I saw on the street outside. He walked up to me, with an evil smirk on his face and a plastic bag in his pocket.

"Hey little guy. Wanna buy some magic?" he said, showing me the bag. I glared daggers at him. I knew he was The Man, the one responsible for my Dad's addiction to herion. I turned on my heel and walked away, not bothering to say anything to him. I walked up to the office window, where a burly but kind old man greeted me as I approached.

"Hello," I said, smiling back at him. "How much for a bus ticket to Santa Fe, please?"


	14. The Bar

Josh again.

* * *

I got off the steps of the bus, said "Thanks" to the driver and stepped on the concrete sidewalk of Santa Fe. I looked around and surveyed this town which looked like a foreign land to me. How the hell was I going to find Dad in here? I decided to just walk around and ask. I asked at the local gas station, the food store, even the homeless people on the streets. But no one knew anything.

Exasperated but still determined, I shifted my bag pack to my other shoulder and entered Moe's Bar. I knew I was under the age but I had to see there. I _had_ to. Bars have bands and stuff, right? Maybe Dad would be here, playing and singing for money. I bit my lip and walked towards the doorway where I heard an old Guns N Roses record playing and saw a few barmaids cleaning tables of the partially empty bar, but was stopped by a tall, muscular bouncer who put his meaty hand on my arm.

"Hey little guy. What do you think you're doing here?" he asked, eyed me suspiciously.

_Shit_, I thought. _He better let me in_. "Hey look, uh I'm sorry. I'm not here to drink, or anything. I'm just looking for my Dad. He's about 5'10", with green eyes, light brown hair, stubble on his face, and he's always dressed in ripped jeans and stuff, 'coz he's a rock star. I just wanted to see if he's here, please. They had a fight...and...I'm so worried about him after he left home yesterday," I rambled, my voice breaking.

The bouncer then smiled, and squeezed my shoulder gently. "Oh I'm sorry buddy. Why don't you come in and I'll ask the band if they've seen him around? But I still ain't givin' you any beer though." He giggled. I giggled back and sat down at the bar on one of the stools and surveyed the place. The remnants of smoke, beer and women still lingered in the air, from last night no doubt. I smiled awkwardly at the brunette barmaid as she winked at me while wiping the table, her plunging neckline revealing more than what it should. I blushed and turned my head to the bouncer, who came walking back to me. He asked:

"Hey kiddo, was your Dad wearing ripped jeans and a Dirty Sanchez t-shirt?"

I literally flew out of my seat. "Oh my God, _YES!_ That's him! Do you know where he is? Do you?" I babbled incoherently.

He sighed. "Well, John, our drummer, says that he saw him sitting at the back of the bar last night, drinking beer and looking very depressed about something. He had about three of them and then staggered out the door. We don't exactly know where he lived or where he was going. But my guess is that if he's in this town, he can't be living too far," he said as gently as possibly.

I slumped back onto my stool just as quickly as I flew off it. "Oh great. This is just _great_!" I yelled. I buried my face into my hands and cried softly. My only last hope of finding Dad and now I've lost that too. Now what?

"Hey hey there. It's okay, little dude. It's okay," mumbled the bouncer as he slowly rubbed my back. "Just calm down now. You'll find him. All you have to do is be patient." I raised my face to meet his and he smiled sympathetically at me. I smiled back.

"There, that's better," said he. "I'm Al, by the way. And you are…?"

"I'm Josh," I answered, feeling a bit more hopeful now that I found someone who could possibly help me in my search.

"Hi Josh. Can I interest you in a Coke?"

"Sure," I replied with a nod. He pulled out a tall Heineken glass from behind the bar, filled it with Coke from the drink taps, put it on a cardboard coaster and slid it to me. I was about to reach for my wallet, when he stopped me. "Don't worry about it, dude. It's on the house," he said, winking at me.

"Well thank you," I said, grinning widely at him.

* * *

For the next 45 minutes, I sat there at the bar, drinking my Coke and chatting to Al about my parents and everything that happened to them. He listened intently to me, with a worried look in his eyes. Drumming his fingers on the table, he said to me:

"Josh, I promise you that I'll keep a lookout for anyone named Roger Davis. I have a pretty good idea where to look, anyway. If we don't find him by any chance, we can always go ask the cops to help us. But I can assure you that we _will_ find your Dad. I don't want you growing up without one the way I have."

"Why? What do you mean?" I asked him, taking another sip from my glass.

He eyes suddenly became dark and grave. "My dad and I had a huge fight once, when I was about 16. He told me to fuck off from his life and so I did just that. But he got a heart attack two weeks later and died because I was still mad at him and he couldn't find me anywhere, no matter where he searched. So ever since then, I've spent the rest of my life wishing I had come home at least once to say I was sorry and see if he was okay. I _don't_ want the same thing to happen to you, Josh. I don't want you to lose your Dad."

I stared at him with my eyes wide open. "Oh my God, Al. I'm so sorry. But thank you so much for helping me. If you ever see him anywhere, please tell him to come home straightaway. Tell him his son misses him so badly and wants to see him again."

He smiled at me. "Will do, son. Will do."

I beamed at him from ear to ear. "Thank you so much, Al," I mumbled, giving him a big hug.

"No problem, Josh," he replied as he hugged me back. I downed the last of my drink, picked up my bag and waved goodbye to him. I stepped out onto the street, feeling more hopeful now that I had someone to help me. But soon that got replaced by a feelingof dread and worry. What if Dad didn't make it back alive last night? What he got murdered or mugged? What if…? I was so wrapped up in my thoughts that I didn't notice what was happening around me, until I felt the hard metal crash itself into my side, and throw me a few meters across the street. Before I could even register what happened, I felt a sharp, searing pain in my head and some warm liquid running through my hair. Probably blood, after that impact caused by landing on the hard, tar on my head. The last thing I remember was that brain-numbing pain in my head, my whole body going limp, a faint voice yelling "Are you okay?" and Al's worried face hovering above mine.

And then, everything went black.

* * *

Oh no! What happens to poor Josh? Will he make it out alive? Tune into find out...


	15. Mark's Thoughts

**Mark's POV.**

I sat on the floor of the living room and absently sorted out some of my archived film reels, thinking about what just happened to our happy little family. The first minute we were all together and inseparable; the next, each of us were all alone in our thoughts and refused to speak to each other. Or at least, Josh refused to speak to me. He's been harsh on me ever since I told Roger to leave the loft so we could have some time apart. But as soon as those words left my mouth, I regretted them immediately. How could I _say_ that? How could I have asked the love of my life to walk away from me and our son?

Without even thinking, I grabbed the roll of tape that said _'Our Wedding'_ written on it and loaded it into the projector. I sat back and watched as Roger and I stood in front of each other and recited our vows of love and commitment, before my mom, our friends and Father Gary Moore. I watched as we placed the rings on each other's fingers and shared our most passionate kiss as of yet, my eyes brimming with tears. Look how happy and full of love we were. What happened to us? Where did we go wrong? I gazed at the picture of us on our wedding day, which I carried in my wallet. Roger looked so gorgeous in his punk t-shirt and kohl eyes. I looked my wedding ring, with its three tiny diamonds sparkling in the light, and remembered the look in Roger's eyes as he slipped it on my finger. I curled myself into a ball on the floor and sobbed tearlessly, thinking about how I had ruined everything that was good in my life, my life-partner, and now my son. I offered to take him out for ice-cream after school, but he refused, saying that only Roger did that with him. I looked at the time on the digital clock. 4.30. Josh was supposed to be home by now. Where _was_ he? I got up from the floor and walked over to the kitchen to get myself some juice. Maybe he was hanging out with his friend Sean or something, but he would at least call if he was. I paced back and forth across the kitchen, drinking and watching the clock. Finally at 5.00 the phone rang, bringing me back to the real world. I nervously picked up the phone and said:

"Hello?"

"Hello! Is there somebody by the name of Cohen-Davis I can speak to, please?"

I got a sinking feeling in my stomach at the sound of his voice. I had a feeling this wasn't going to be good. "Yes, this is Mark Cohen-Davis."

"Mr. Cohen-Davis, this is Dr. Hitch from St. Maria's hospital in Santa Fe. I have a 12-year-old boy named Joshua Cohen-Davis in the emergency room. I assume that he is of relation to you?"

I felt my heart skip a beat and my hands tremble. "_That's my son!_ What happened to him? Is he okay? **Please** tell me that he's okay! **Please**!"

I was stupefied. What the hell did Josh go to Santa Fe for? _To find his Dad_, the answer came out of my own head. It was _my_ entire fucking fault. Crying softly, I prayed to God that he'd be alright. I waited for Dr. Hitch to tell me that.

But instead he said, "Mr. Cohen-Davis, I honestly wish I could, but I'm afraid your son has been hit by a car and suffered a severe fractured leg and a cracked skull. He'slost someblood and in currently unconscious. There's no telling when he will wake up. I'm terribly sorry."

I slumped to the floor, my tear-stained face frozen in a silent scream.

Sorry I can't give you any more. I've been horribly sick for the past whole week. And the rainy weather ain't helping me much either.


	16. Hospital

Mark's POV.

I sat huddled in the front seat of the car, as Collins drove us to Santa Fe, dodging through the traffic and screaming profanities at anyone who got in our way. But I couldn't care less. I was so worried about my poor Josh, who was in hospital suffering a head injury. I still wished I never sent Roger away because I needed him now so badly. Collins looked over to my side, a worried expression on his face.

"Hang on, buddy. We're almost there," he said, reassuringly.

"Thanks Tom," I replied, bracing myself a little. I couldn't even imagine how he would look, with all those hospital tubes stuck into him and stuff. I gulped deeply as Collins turned into a huge building with harsh fluorescent lights on the inside and outside of it.

"Okay, we're here," he said, parking his 1996 Ford Escort into the hospital car park.

I unclipped my seat belt. "Thanks Collins," I mumbled as I got out of the vehicle and stared at the building. It had an old **_St. Maria's Hospital_** sign on the front as an old, flickering blue light with cobwebs on it with a giant red cross next to it. Collins and I walked into the sliding doors and headed towards the reception desk, where a middle-aged woman with glasses and platinum blonde hair sat at the desk, filing her nails.

"Excuse me; I'm looking for my son please? His name is Joshua Angel Cohen-Davis," I asked her breathlessly.

The woman looked at me over the top of her glasses and tapped on her computer, cracking bubblegum loudly as she did so. I pinched my face anxiously, annoyed by her constant cracking and watching the clock as precious minutes slipped by like years. Finally she looked at me and said, "Room 205, just next to the cafeteria."

"Thank you," answered Collins and me at the same time. We bulldozed into the elevator, went up to the second floor, and found room 205 just around the corner from the cafeteria. I froze as I looked through the glass window and saw my baby boy lying on that hospital bed, his head wrapped up in bandages, an oxygen mask on his face, several tubes stuck all over his body, his leg up in a sling and a heart monitor next to him beeping constantly. I just stood there, with Collins on my right, wringing my hands and trembling in fear. Oh my God. How the _fuck_ did all this happen?

* * *

"Mr Cohen-Davis, I presume?" asked a deep, warm voice from my right. I turned around to face a youngish man, presumably thirty, with thick brown hair, brown eyes, and a long white lab coat. I nodded silently.

"Dr. Greg Hitch. Pleasure to meet you. I'm Josh's surgeon," he said, extending his hand.

"Nice meeting you too," I replied, shaking his hand. "This is my friend, Tom Collins. He drove me here." I gestured to Collins, who shook the doctor's hand after me.

Dr. Hitch smiled half-heartedly at both of us. "We've just performed surgery on him. We've fixed up his leg and patched his head together. Thankfully, he hasn't lost too much blood, but that _was_ a pretty nasty, deep gash on his skull, so we just finished the surgery not too long before you got here."

I struggled to breathe, while my lips trembled. "Will he….will he be okay, Doctor?" I barely whispered. Dr. Hitch sighed deeply, a sympathetic look in his eyes.

"I can't tell you for sure, Mr. Cohen-Davis. Considering the extent of his injuries, I mean……I've had patients with severe head injuries who have either died on the table or just two days later. And this poor boy is on morphine because he was in so much pain. But please, don't be alarmed. I'm not trying to scare you at all. I'm just, well, stating the facts for you. But I'm very hopeful for him. I can tell he's a fighter."

I nodded. "Yes he is Dr. Thank you so much," I mumbled, wiping away the tears that slipped down my cheek. Collins put an arm around my shoulder and whispered in his warm, deep voice. "See? Don't you worry too much about him, Marko-boy. That boy's stronger than steel. He'll make it through."

I smiled at him through my tears. "Thank you Collins. Thank you so much for coming here with me."

Collins smiled back. "Well, hello? What are best friends for, huh?" he said as he pulled me into a hug. I turned around to face Dr. Hitch. "Thank you so much Dr. Hitch," I said, to which he responded with a brighter smile. I glanced at the clock in the hallway, which read 6 o'clock. "Can I please, just…..sit with him for a while?"

He nodded. "Sure you can. Just don't move him too much. He really needs his rest." I smiled at him. "I'll be in my office down the hall if you need me."

"Thanks," I said to him as he turned and walked away to his office. Collins turned me to face him and said:

"Hey buddy, why don't you go in first? I'll go get a coffee or somethin'."

I smiled at him. "Sure. Thanks Col." After he left, I slowly pushed the cold metal door open and stepped in gingerly. I gulped as I looked upon my poor Josh, his young boy so frail on that bed. I sat next to him and took his hand in mine, holding it tightly.

"_Yeshula?_ Baby, can you hear me?" I whispered. No reply. Only deep breaths in and out through the oxygen mask as his chest moved up and down. I felt more tears rolling out of my eyes, but I didn't bother wiping them up. I brought his hand up to my face and kissed it. "I know you can. I'm so sorry, _Yeshula_. I didn't mean to hurt you like this. I should never have sent your Dad away. Look how much I'm missing him now. Looks how much I'm missing you now. Please come back to us Joshy, _please_. I love you so much…" I kissed his hand again and cried more. "Please, Joshy. We're nothing without you. I'm nothing without you……" I trailed off. I couldn't think of anything else to say to him. "_Please_ come back to us. We need you so much." I pressed his hand to my face and cried softly. I wanted so badly to see Roger, but I just couldn't think what to say to him when I did. No way in hell would he want to talk to me after what I made him do. But that's fine. I deserve it anyway. Right now, I just wanted him to be here with me and our son.

* * *

Roger's POV.

I ran into the foyer of the St. Maria's hospital, totally ignoring the receptionist, and flew into the elevator. Fuck, I didn't even know where I was going. Ah whatever, I'd figure it out. I went up to the second floor of the building and walked down the corridor looking for Josh, but I didn't find him. Exhausted, I went to the cafeteria and slumped down into a plastic chair, trying to catch my breath.

"Oh, so you finally decided to show up," said a familiar, gruff voice from behind.

I got up and turned to find my old friend there. "Hey Collins!" I yelled, grabbing him into a huge hug. "I'm so glad you're here."

"Well, _somebody_ had to drive Marko-boy here," he retorted, grinning at me. "How you been, man?"

"Oh, okay," I replied, casting my eyes to the floor. Collins stepped back and looked at me.

"How'd you know about….?" He asked as he tossed his empty coffee cup into the trash can.

"The bartender guy at Moe's Bar told me when I went for a beer," I replied. "Said that Josh came there today looking for me, then suddenly got hit by some asshole on a joyride and was brought here. I just ran here like a fucking lunatic escaping a mental asylum." Collins chuckled at me.

"Ahhh, the power of love." I nodded, shoving my hands deep into the pockets of my leather jacket.

"How is he, Tom?" I mumbled.

Collins bit his lip. "He's had a fractured leg and a crack in his skull, both of which have been fixed up with surgery. But Dr. Hitch didn't make it clear whether he was gonna be okay or not. Guess that's a big, gaping question mark above his head, huh?"

I gasped and felt my knees go week. I grabbed onto my chair for support. "Oh, _fuck_," I muttered, fuming at myself for letting Mark just shove me out of our house. Fuck, I should've just apologized and cleared all this shit up. Maybe then all this wouldn't have happened to Josh.

"Why don't you go see him? He's in Room 205," asked Collins, breaking me out of my thoughts.

I gulped, my heart suddenly leaping to my throat. "Sure, but Mark? I mean, how am I gonna…..?"

Collins stopped me. "Look, I know things are a little rough between you bitches, but I don't care. Right now, the most important fact is that your son is in a dire condition and he needs you to be there for him."

I blinked. Man, kudos to Collins for always having philosophical, eye-opening answers. I nodded at him and walked into the room. I opened the door and saw Mark sitting on the side of the bed, holding Josh's hand close to his face and sobbing quietly. My stomach churned as I watched my poor son stuck inside and out with tubes, his head bandaged and his leg in a sling. I so badly wanted to throw my arms around my Marky and hold him close, but I was so fucking scared to face him. I walked quietly to the other side of the bed and stood there. Mark suddenly became aware of my presence and lifted his head to face me. My heart just broke when I saw his face stained with tears, stains on his glasses and his lips quivering. We just stared at each other for the longest time, not knowing what the fuck to say. Finally, I sat down on the metal chair and took Josh's other hand into my own, squeezing it.

"Hey there, little buddy," I whispered as I ran my fingers through his hair. "It's gonna be okay now. Dad's here. Your _Aba's_ here too. We're all here for you. Don't you worry. Everything's gonna be just fine." I could feel my voice breaking and a single tear running down my face, but I didn't care. All I knew was; my son was in the hospital. And he needed us to be there for him at all costs.

* * *

There. Maybe this will ease the suspense a bit. Update: my cold is a bit better, but now my throat is acting up and making it hard for me to talk without coughing. Oh well, such is life…… 


	17. Is This Heaven?

Josh's POV.

* * *

_Where am I? What happened to me?_

_The first minute I found myself lying on the street, the next I'm in a giant white hallway. Jeez, everything here is white. Even my clothes. The last thing I remember – the only thing actually – is me wearing a green sweatshirt, black corduroy pants and running shoes. And what the fuck is with all these huge clouds in my face? Can't see a damn thing here. I used my arms to plough my way through the excessive white fluffiness until my eyes spotted a figure walking towards me. I blinked my eyes into focus, and saw that it was a man, fairly young, with a skinny, lanky build, partially bald, and dressed in baggy blue jeans and a red hooded jacket. He smiled as he approached me._

"_Hey there Josh! I've been waiting to meet you!" he said to me._

_I stared at him. "Uhhh, do I…..like, know you?" I asked._

_He grinned cheekily at me. "Oh, I think you do, Joshy boy. Tell me, what's your full name?"_

_I didn't know what the hell he was doing, but I played along anyway. "Well umm, it's Joshua Angel Cohen-Davis."_

_He continued grinning. "And do you know where each of those names comes from?"_

_I thought for a minute. Ok, Joshua is my first name, I know that much. Cohen and Davis are from my parents, so that means……..Oh my God!_

_I blinked incredulously. "You're Angel? As in, Collins' Angel?"_

_He giggled at me. "Ahhhhhh, so you **do** know me! But maybe you'll recognize me better like this instead."_

_Angel waved his arm in the air, and in a flash he was transformed into – well, a drag queen. He was suddenly clad in a short, black wig, a floral dress with white stockings underneath, huge purple stilettos and a pink sweater. Holy fuck. So **this** is the Great Angel Dumont-Schunard who was the beating heart of my Bohemian family. The one who killed Benny's wife's dog. I giggled at that story. Interesting how you can kill someone just by annoying the crap outta them. But I had to admit, he looked great in drag._

_Angel slipped an arm around my shoulder and smiled warmly at me. "Well, now that we know each other, let's take a walk, shall we?"

* * *

_

_Angel led me into what looked like a foyer then opened one of the doors to reveal a beautiful garden fit for a king. She (that's what everyone called her I guess) skipped happily like a 12-year-old, giggling and showing me all the beautiful flowers which adorned the place. But I couldn't concentrate on that right now. I needed some answers and I needed them now._

"_Hey, Angel?" I cleared my throat. "Can we talk somewhere, please?"_

_Angel spun around to face me. "Sure, honey!" She took my hand and led me to an elegant, round garden table. I sat on one side and she sat opposite me. Feeling my stomach do flip-flops, I asked her:_

"_So, am I dead? Is this Heaven?"_

_She giggled deeply at me before answering. "Oh no Joshy, you're not dead at all. You're just unconscious. Which is why you're in Heaven's…...let's called it 'foyer'. This like a limbo area for those who are not dead but not quite alive. I thought, since this accident got you in the hospital, I better take the opportunity to visit the little boy that my good friends Mark and Roger have been raising. And I must say, they've done a **very** good job." She winked at me at the end of that sentence. I could feel myself blushing._

"_Thanks" I said, smiling at her. Then my expression turned serious. "Tell me Angel; am I going to die?"_

_Angel's expression turned serious too. Oh shit, this couldn't be good. I bit my lip and she took both my hands in hers and squeezed them. "I'm afraid I can't tell you that, Josh honey. I'm not God. It's not my job to decide who lives and who dies. I can only hope and pray that you'll make it through, but I really don't know whether that'll happen or not. I'm so sorry honey," she said, a single tear slipping out the corner of her eye._

_I suddenly started to cry in an instant, as my heart skipped a beat. What if I died? What if Dad and Aba continued fighting until they split up for good? I couldn't handle something like that happening, I just couldn't. I let go of Angel's hands and covered my face with my own as I sobbed loudly. Angel leapt of her seat, wrapped her arms around me and held me close to her._

"_Oh don't cry baby, please. Don't cry. It's gonna be okay. Please, baby," she mumbled as she gently stroked my hair. I hugged her back tightly and buried my face deep into her shoulder to muffle my sobs. "SShhhhhh, its okay honey. I'm here for you."_

"_But I don't wanna die!" I wailed. "I can't leave my Dad and Aba behind. I love them so much. Please don't let me leave them, please!"_

_Angel kissed my cheek and continued stroking my hair. "Don't you worry about a thing, Joshy. Everything's gonna work out just fine. Trust me, I know." I continued to lay in her arms until I could stop crying and start being strong for my parents. I couldn't do this to them. I couldn't' just leave them when they needed me the most. I prayed to God that I would be reunited with them soon.

* * *

_

YAYYY! And that's the latest chapter. I'm feeling better BTW. My cold seems to have gone.


	18. Tell Him

_Mark's POV.

* * *

_

"Hey there, bitches."

I lifted my head to see Collins' standing in the doorway, with two little cardboard cups in either hand. "Here's a tea for you," he said as he placed one cup on the table next to me, "and a coffee for you," as he placed the other cup in Roger's hand.

"Thanks, Tom," I said, sipping the hot liquid and letting it warm my insides. Roger smiled weakly at Collins' and did the same with his hot drink. I mean, not that I was watching him. _No_ way.

Collins' pulled up another metal chair and sat down next to me. I rubbed my eyes underneath my glasses and yawned.The three of us sat together in an awkward silence, the only sounds heard were of Roger and I sipping our beverages, the clock ticking and Josh's heart monitor beating steadily. I pressed him arm to my face again. My poor Joshy. If only I hadn't sent Roger away. I so badly wanted to see him again, yet now that he was here, I was at a loss of what the fuck to say to him. I felt like I wasn't worthy of talking to him. I glanced over to Roger, who held Josh's hand with one hand and sipped his coffee with the other, and our eyes suddenly met. We held our gaze for as long as humanely possible, almost as if trying to read each other's thoughts. I thought I saw a bit of anger, a bit of hurt, a bit of……was that fear? Roger Davis was actually afraid of me? I opened my mouth to say something - I don't know what - when the door of the hospital room creaked open. We all turned our heads to the door to see Dr. Hitch standing in the doorway.

"Hello gentlemen. I'm sorry to ruin your little moment, but I'm afraid Joshua needs to be left alone now. We just need to run some tests on him to make sure everything's working properly and then he needs to sleep."

I gulped. I wasn't ready to leave my baby boy alone yet. "Please, doctor. Can we have just a little while longer? Please?"

Dr. Hitch sighed. "Alright then. I'll give you guys about half an hour. But after that, you'll really have to leave."

Roger spoke up next. "Don't worry, we will. Thanks Doc." Just then, we heard some loud noises that seemed to be travelling throughout the second floor. Collins grumbled:

"_Who_ is making that obnoxious racket?" Just then, the door to our room swung open and in flew a sexy brunette in a red tank top, tight blue jeans, and her hair clinging wildly to her face.

"Hey boys, how're you doing? Oohhh, poor Joshy!" she squealed as she gave Collins, Roger and me big hugs and bent over to look at Josh, gently rubbing his hand.

"Honeybear, could you please keep your voice down? This is a hospital, for heavens' sake!" said the gorgeous black woman who entered our room next, dressed in a sleek black suit, white business shirt and a deep green and grey tie.

"Ohh right. Sorry Jo-Jo."

"Hey Maureen, hey Joanne," I said when I could finally get a word in edgewise. Both ladies greeted me back, and then turned to the hospital bed to gently squeeze Josh's hands. Collins' smiled half-heartedly at both of them while Roger mumbled out a couple of 'hellos' to them. I sat staring into space for about five minutes when I heard a small voice go, "Umm, hi….there."

I turned around to face the voice. "Oh, hey Leana. Sorry I didn't see you there," I said as I put my arms around her and hugged her tightly. Wow, this was the first time I'd seen her dressed down, in her faded blue jeans, black sweatshirt and grey running shoes, her nut-brown hair hanging limply around her head and her pretty makeup-less face stained with tears.

She hugged me back and buried her face into the crook of my neck. "Oh, Uncle Mark. I'm so sorry about this. This is _my_ entire fault! If I hadn't brought Josh to the party, none of this would have happened. I'm so sorry!"

"Hey hey hey there, sweetie. Don't cry. None of this is your fault. We're not angry with you at all. Please stop crying." I held her in my arms and stroked her messy hair until her sobs faded away. Finally, after a long awkward silence, Joanne was the first to speak.

"So, what's been done to him now?" she asked as she gently smoothed Josh's hair.

Roger answered her while blankly staring out the window. "He's had surgery to fix his fractured leg and broken skull. They've put him on extra morphine, so now we have to wait for him to regain consciousness." He trembled a little.

"Awww hey, it's gonna be okay Rog. He'll be fine. You'll see," said Maureen as she wrapped an arm around Roger in comfort, but he didn't respond to her. She then skipped over to me and hugged me tightly. I hugged her back, trying to blink away my tears which managed to fall out anyway.

"He'll make it through, Pookie. He's a real fighter. Don't worry so much, okay?" she whispered to me. Wow, it's so nice to know that the Drama Queen had such a soft side. I gave her a small smile after I pulled away.

"There! That's the spirit!" said Maureen, returning the smile tenfold. Joanne offered me an encouraging smile of her own, which I happily returned. Just then, Dr. Hitch walked into the room again, doing a double take at the people in the room who had suddenly grown in number.

"Oh, whoa! Umm, sorry to ruin your moment again, but you guys _really_ need to leave now. I'm so sorry. But you can see him first thing tomorrow morning," said he.

Collins' smiled at him. "Thanks Doc. We'll be leaving now."

"Yeah. Thank you so much Dr. Hitch. It really means a lot to us," I added. Roger thanked him too.

"No problem, you guys. See you all tomorrow then." And with that, he left the room. One by one, we all stood up to leave. I walked up to Josh and whispered:

"Goodnight _Yeshula_. I'll see you tomorrow. I love you." Then I kissed his forehead softly and headed for the door. Roger was next, gently kissing his cheek, whispering "I love you, little buddy" and then stood up from his seat. Collins' gently ruffled his hair and said, "Seeya soon, little Joshman." Maureen, Joanne and Leana all gave Josh little kisses and whispered their goodbyes to him. After we were all done, Collins' held the door open for us and we all walked out into the corridor one by one. All of us just stood there quietly, not knowing what to say to each other. Finally, Roger spoke.

"I need a cigarette," he grumbled before turning around and heading towards the hospital balcony. I watched him walk away, a single tear running down my face. Joanne smiled sympathetically and said, "We'll be staying at the Pine Oak Motel, which is just two streets away from here. We'll spend the weekend there just in case you guys need anything, okay? Don't forget to call first thing tomorrow so we can come over."

"I will. Thanks Jo," I mumbled as she scooped me into a warm, motherly hug. She then handed me a paper with the necessary number written on me. Maureen and Leana both said their goodbyes to me, hugging me warmly. I smiled at them.

"Thank you guys _so_ much for coming here," I blubbered.

Maureen smiled. "Anything for you, Pookie," she said sweetly.

Joanne crinkled her forehead. "Maureen, do you _have_ to use that word and make Mark squirm?"

Leana giggled while I blushed. "Well Mama, what can you do? That's Mom for you." She and Joanne shared a special smile while Maureen put her arms on her hips and pouted. Obviously, this was a common joke between them.

"Well, we'd better be off then," piped Joanne. She, Leana and Maureen all hugged me, then hugged Collins,' said their goodbyes to us and went down the elevator. Finally, it was just Collins and me. I turned around and sat down on one of the plastic chairs in the hallway, my hands shoved deep into my pockets. Collins sat down next to me.

"So" he began tentatively. "Wanna talk about it?"

I proceeded to open my mouth when I realised that I had nothing to talk about. "I…..I love him, Collins," I managed to finally spit out. "I love him and now I've hurt him. What am I gonna say to him now?"

"Tell him what you just told me," he said matter-of-factly. "Tell him that you love him, and how much he means to you, and that you didn't mean what you said. Believe me, that kinda stuff can do a hell of a lot of good."

I blinked at him, confused. "That's it? _That's_ what I should tell him? But that's so common. I tell him that, like, all the time. Before this whole mess, that is," I added quickly.

Collins half-smiled at me. "Sometimes, that's all a person needs to hear. And right now, that's what Roger needs to hear more than anything else."

I sighed deeply and rested my head against the wall. Collins was right. I had to tell Roger that I loved him and wanted him to come back home. But hey, easier said than done, right?

* * *

Aahhhhh, the plot thickens……-giggle- 


	19. They Will

**Roger's POV.**

I stood at the edge of the hospital balcony, taking a long drag of my cigarette and staring blankly at the trees on the hospital ground. _Fuck_. My son was in hospital and my lover refused to talk to me. I couldn't stand it. I just couldn't fucking stand him just staring at me without saying anything. I took another long drag when I heard some footsteps shuffling behind me. I turned around and saw my best friend looking at me expectantly.

"Well?" he said, raising his eyebrows at me.

"Well what, Collins?" I scoffed as I took another drag and wondered what the hell I was gonna do next.

"Are you gonna speak to him?"

My eyes blazed. "Oh so now, _I_ must fucking speak to him! He kicked _my_ ass outta the house, he ignored me all week and now I have to be the first to fucking talk! Ohh yeah, that's rich!" I laughed bitterly, stubbing my cigarette on the floor and crossing my arms over my chest.

Collins put his arm on my shoulder to steady me. "Ok ok, easy there Rog boy. You need to stop being so uptight. One of you _has_ to say something sometime and end this madness. And soon. Look what it's done to Josh."

I continued to glare at the wall. "Yes Tom, I know. But how can I? It's not like he _wants_ me to come back home, right?"

Collins smirked mysteriously at me. "Ohhh, you'll be surprised at how Marky-boy really feels. But like I said, both of you had better get off your asses and say something before anything else happens."

I huffed loudly. "Ok fine, but I ain't making any promises."

This seems to satisfy Collins, who slipped an arm around my shoulder and said, "Great! So, we crashin' at your place tonight?"

"Yeah, sure, I guess," I said to him. Oh man, him _and _Mark are gonna be sleeping at my place. This should be fucking interesting. The two of us walked back to the corridor where Mark sat on one of those plastic chairs, his head suddenly snapping around to face me as I came. I purposely avoided his gaze as we wordlessly made our way down to Collins' car and drove off to my dingy shithole apartment. Collins' parked his car in the visitors' car space and we all got off and entered the apartment after I opened the lock. Before I could say anything, Collins grabbed an old mattress and pillow from my room, dumped it on the floor of the living room and said:

"K boys, I'm gonna crash here. You can take the couch, Mark."

Mark smiled awkwardly at Collins. "Thanks, Col," he mumbled quietly. I walked into my room, brought a spare blanket and walked into the living room. I shoved it into Mark's hands, and left quickly to my room before he could say anything. I mentally kicked myself as I undressed and got into my dilapidated bed, pulling the blanket up to my chin. Fuck, I shoulda said something. But _what_? 'I love you Marky. Can I come home now?' or maybe 'You hurt me Mark, prepare to die?' I shook my head vigorously as I turned myself around in the bed. Tomorrow I'll try to say something. Right now, I just need to give this damn head of mine a rest.

* * *

_Josh's POV._

_Angel and I sat at the round table in the magical garden, munching on burgers and fries which she magically conjured with her arm, seeing as she had the power to get whatever she wanted because she was such a good person on Earth. _

"_Tell me, Josh," said Angel as she munched on a piece of lettuce. "How's my Collins doing? Hope he's not too depressed."_

_I smiled at her. "Oh no, he not. We've all been looking after him and making sure he's happy and all. He's like an uncle to me."_

_Angel smiled back. "Oh that's wonderful!" She sat back into her chair and sighed. "I miss him so much, I can't even describe. I loved him more than anything in life. What wouldn't I give just to be with him again." Her lips trembled as she said this._

_I reached out to squeeze her arm. "Hey Angel, it's okay. I'm sure he knows how much you love him. That's the only thing that keeps him going everyday. But if you like, I can tell him for you. That is, if I ever get back to Earth."_

_Angel smiled through her tears. "Thank you so much, Joshy boy. And don't worry. I know you're gonna go back home to your sweet parents. I can just feel it. But not just yet. I believe they still have a few issues to sort out first before they can see you again," she said as she squeezed my arm back._

_I finished my food and pushed my plate aside. "So, they're gonna get back together?" I asked, full of hope that they would do just that._

"_Oh I'm sure they will. They love each other too much not too. I'm sure the whole world knows that by now."_

_I relaxed a little and sat back in my seat. Suddenly, I started to feel angry as to why such a kind soul like Angel was taken away from us so soon. There's still so much life for her to live, so much love for her to give to all of us. After we finished eating, Angel took my hand and led us both through the sparkling river which ran through the magical forest, telling me about all the crazy antics she and Aunt Mimi used to get up to. I giggled at her stories, but deep down, I hoped against hope that my parents would get back together. I mean, it's really their immense love for each other that I even exist today…..isn't it?_

* * *

C'mon Roger! You better have a good plan the next time I check on you! –giggles evilly- 


	20. Clear!

**Mark's POV.**

I was the first to wake up, as the early morning sunrays shone through the cobweb-clad windows of Roger's dingy Santa Fe apartment. I blinked and rubbed my eyes. I reached for my watch, which read 6.00 am. Shit, it was early. Oh well, it's not like I could sleep anyway, considering my son was in the hospital and my lover refused to speak to me. I wiped my glasses and put them on my face, and then quietly padded into the bathroom to brush and wash myself up, careful not to wake Roger or Collins, who was sprawled across the floor with a line of drool falling out of his open mouth. When I finished, I started the coffee machine in the kitchen and sat on the dining table chair, so I could think about what I wanted to say to Roger. I cleared my throat and began:

"Hey Roger, how you doin? Poor Joshy must be real worried about us huh?" _Whoa, there's the understatement of the year._ "Look, I'm….uh, I'm really sorry about kicking you out of the loft. I was just angry. You know how I get when I'm angry, don't you?" _Umm, he's the one that gets angry, which you can usually tell once he's thrown a couple of shoes across the room or something, but I'm sure even **he** wouldn't kick me out. _"Anyway, what I really wanted to say was, I want you to come back home. Like, right away. As soon as Josh gets better. I, uh…..I hope you can forgive me…."

"Ohh, I'm sure he will, dude," moaned Collins, who suddenly woke up and jolted me out of my thoughts. He rubbed his eyes and mumbled a sleepy "Mornin' " to me. I smiled back, blushing slightly, and replied with a "Good Morning" when I was startled again by the coffee pot telling me it was ready. I poured a cup for myself and for Collins, who got up and gratefully accepted the cup from me. We sat drinking our cups in silence for a few minutes. Then, Collins spoke up.

"Mark-O, I think it's great that ya'll got this little speech thing happenin' but lemme tell you boy, the real words have gotta come from the heart," He placed a hand upon his heart as if to emphasise his point. "No use trying it out now. When the two of you have a moment alone, just open your mouth and let the words flow out naturally, man." I felt my chest suddenly tighten at the thought of being with him alone. Collins took another sip, slurping loudly, and said, "The bottom line is; you bitches love each other. So, work from that."

"Thanks, Collins," I mumbled, finishing the last sips of my hot caffeine-loaded drink and getting up to get dressed. _Good ol' Collins to the rescue again_, I thought. What the fuck would we ever do without him? Just then, Roger walked into the room already dressed, grunted a "Morning" at Collins, which he amusedly returned, and poured himself a cup of coffee. But not before fleetingly meeting my gaze first. I could have sworn I saw a hint of nervousness in his eye again. Ok, so he was having jitters too. At least that makes it a bit easier for me. Once we were all dressed and ready, we got into the car so Collins' could drive us to the Hospital. I sat in the back seat while Roger sat in the front with him. I felt so excited to be able to tell him, yet at the same time so scared.

* * *

An hour later, we were _all_ sitting in Room 205; meaning Maureen, Joanne, Leana, and even Mimi who was able to drop by for a quick visit. She brought a bouquet of small white roses for Josh with a "Get Well Soon" card attached to the front. I smiled and hugged her.

"Thank you Mimi. They look so nice," I told her.

Mimi smiled back. "Why not? Something pretty for Josh so he knows I'm thinking about him."

I smiled again at her. Then my smile faded as I crossed my arms across my chest and stared at the floor. I could feel Mimi's concerned eyes on me.

"How you doin, sweetie? Have you spoken to Roger yet?"

"How can I?" I said, my voice nothing more than a whisper. "I'm so afraid to face him after all the things I said to him. I even kicked him out of our home. _Our_ home. Josh has been so furious at me ever since that happened. _I'm_ the fucking reason he's even here in the first place." I looked at my poor son, who still had a bandage around his head and his leg in a sling. My voice trembled as a few tears slid down my face.

Mimi flung her arms around me and held me close. "Oh hey, it's okay honey. Don't go blaming yourself. It's not important whose fault it is. What's _really_ important is that we, his family, are all together to help him get through this." I nodded into her shoulder while I hugged her back. She was right.

"I know," I warbled as she rubbed my back. "Thank you so much, Mimi. You're a doll."

She pulled away from and giggled shyly at this. "Well, thanks. I try," she replied. I laughed back as I hastily wiped away my tears. She then skipped over to Roger, who was sitting quietly in the corner of the room and tried to talk to him. Just then, Collins suddenly entered the room, bellowing "Breakfast is here, bitches!" as he laid coffees, teas and bread rolls on the table. Everyone helped themselves, but I couldn't even think about food right now.

"Hey c'mon man, please eat somethin'" begged Collins, who appeared by my side with a tea and a buttered roll in hand. "You need to keep up your strength for Josh. He needs you."

"Yeah, thanks Collins," I mumbled, taking said items from him as I was in no mood to argue or be huffy. I sipped my tea as I watched Collins' coax Roger with a coffee and a bread roll, which he grudgingly accepted and began eating. I sighed. This was gonna be harder than I thought.

* * *

**Roger's POV.**

I stood out on the hospital ground, puffing on my cigarette and glanced at my watch. 5.00 pm. _Fuck_, we just spent the whole fucking day at the hospital. Why couldn't Josh wake up? I started to worry so much that I just had to get out of there for a while. I needed a cigarette to calm my nerves down. I still couldn't talk to Mark and he still couldn't talk to me. I finished my cigarette, threw away the burnt stub, and headed back up to the hospital room where Collins, Maureen, Mimi, Joanne, Mark and Leana were all playing _Cheat_ with the deck of cards that Maureen brought. Wow, Mark was playing cards? Must have taken a hell of a lot of convincing from the Drama Queen to get him to play. Maureen slammed down three cards and said, "Three Queens!"

For those few minutes, everyone seemed to believe her until Leana suddenly went, "Cheater!"

Maureen frowned. "Oh come on, Lea. You know you're wrong."

Leana simply grinned, then picked up the three aforementioned cards and sure enough, there laid a 5 of clubs, and Ace of clubs and an Ace of hearts. Everyone at the table giggled as Maureen reluctantly grabbed the whole pile and struggled to balance them all in her hands. She pouted at her daughter.

"No fair, Lea. How did you know?"

Leana giggled at her. "I know you _too_ well, Mom."

Everyone giggled again. This time, Maureen joined them as they continued the game. I giggled quietly under my breath and sat down next to Josh. I could feel Mark's eyes on me as I gazed at my son.

"C'mon buddy, please wake up. This is really killing us," I pleaded as I gently stroked the back of his hand and listened to the heart monitor beeping steadily. Suddenly, the beeping got longer and longer until - I couldn't believe my fucking eyes – it turned into one continuous, monotone sound. I just panicked and yelled "Holy **Fuck!**" loud enough for the entire street to hear when Dr. Hitch came running in, followed by a few nurses.

"I'm sorry everybody, but I'm afraid I have to ask you all to please leave this room!" he said, ushering us all out in one big pile. We all huddled outside the window of the room, Mark getting hugged by Maureen and me getting hugged by Mimi, as we watched Dr. Hitch and the nurses frantically trying to revive poor Josh. We watched in horror as Dr. Hitch got the necessary equipment and placed it on Josh's chest, yelling "Clear!"

Josh's body bucked violently off the bed but the monotonous beeping continued. I could hear Mark sob loudly as the doctor went "Clear!" once again, but the beep was still there. I squeezed Mimi's arm tightly, while trying to fight back a few tears that threatened to spill down my face. Fuck, if we lose him now…….I don't know _what_ the hell I'm gonna do. Just the mere thought of it was killing me. I buried my face into Mimi's shoulder, trying to muffle my sobs, as I heard Dr. Hitch's voice yell "**Clear!**" one more time. Now I'm the last person in the world who would ever be religious, but in that moment I prayed. I prayed to every god out there that my son would not slip away from us.

* * *

MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Let's see how you sleep tonight with a chapter like **this!** –Evil witch cackle-

Ahem, uh sorry guys. Didn't mean to torture you like this. But if I get a couple a reviews for this one today, I'll give you the next chapter in a matter of hours, deal? Here I'll even give you some mini chocolate mud cakes with double cream on top. Now will you please use that little button on the bottom? Great. Thanks! hands out he mudcakes


	21. I Should Tell You, I Should Tell You

Ok ok, before you guys come after me with torchs and pitchforks, let me just give you half of what you want. Then we'll see how we go, k? –giggles evilly-

* * *

**Mark's POV.**

I clutched Maureen tightly enough to turn her whole body blue as I watched my poor Josh bucking up and down on the bedwhile the nurses did everything they could for him. Suddenly, after the final "**Clear!**" the heart monitor started beating regularly and his breathing got back to normal. All seven of us let out huge sighs of relief as Dr. Hitch looked at us and flashed us a smile and a 'thumbs up' sign. I dropped to the floor, with tears of relief streaming down my face while Joanne and Leana put their arms around me and hugged me tightly. I hugged them back and smiled at them. Thank God for friends like this.

"There. You see that, Mark? Didn't we tell you that kid's a fighter?" said Maureen with a smile.

I nodded so hard my head almost fell off. "Yes, yes you did. Thank you so much Mo."

I looked at Collins, Mimi and Roger, who all had huge smiles of relief plastered on their faces. Well except for Roger, who was looking at Josh through the hospital window, a faraway look on his face. I wonder what he was thinking at that moment, but I didn't give a fuck. I had made up my mind. I was gonna tell him as soon as we got home. At least then we would be alone.

"Whoa, look at the time! We'd better split guys, it's getting late," said Joanne, looking at her watch. Mimi agreed, since she had to get to work soon. The four women gave us hugehugs and kisses, said their goodbyes and parted their separate ways. As soon as they did, Dr. Hitch came out of the room to speak to us.

"Whew, that was a close call," he said, wiping the sweat off his brow. Collins, Roger and I all agreed. "But don't you worry. His body's almost healed. I'm sure he'll awaken very soon."

I clutched his hand tightly as my eyes clouded over again. "Thank you so much Doctor. Thank you for not letting him slip away!"

Dr. Hitch smiled and squeezed my hands back. "Just doing my job, Mr. Cohen-Davis. Now why don't you home and get some rest? You've been here all day."

I nodded and sighed. "Yes Dr. Hitch, we will. Thank you so much. You have a good night."

"You too, Mr. Cohen-Davis. Goodnight, Mr. Davis and Mr. Collins."

Roger and Collins both bid him goodnight as he left for his office. Collins and I fell into a tight, warm hug. "Thank you so much for being here, Collins. What would we do without you?"

I could feel him smile as he ruffled my hair. "My pleasure, Marky-boy. That's kid's stronger than you think. C'mon, let's go home now."

The three of us headed back down the car and Collins drove us home. I felt more determined then ever to tell Roger how I felt. I just couldn't hold itin any longer.

* * *

After a quiet dinner of supreme pizza and Diet Coke, Collins crashed on the floor, Roger went into his room and I sat on the couch, busy contemplating what I was gonna say. But I could hardly concentrate; thanks to my heart pounding so loudly I felt like it was gonna fly out my mouth. I tried to gather up as much courage as I could and walked up to Roger's door and was just about to knock on it, when I heard a soft strumming coming out of it. I listened for a few seconds. _Must have been a new song that he wrote while he was here_. I turned the doorknob as quietly as I could and tiptoed in to see Roger sitting on the bed plucking the strings of his beloved guitar. His head suddenly snapped up to look at me as I gently sat down his bed. We stared at each other like that for a long time before I finally said, "Hey."

"Hey" came his reply.

_Ok, so far so good._ "So…..that a new song?" I asked carefully.

"Yeah" he said, slowly looking away. I wrung my hands together, thinking of something to say. _Oh, I know_.

I cleared my throat and said, "Well, can I…..um, hear it, please?"

Roger raised his eyes to meet mine again, and nodded ever so slightly. He turned around to face me and started playing the opening bars of the song, and then started singing:

_This time, This place  
Misused, Mistakes  
Too long, Too late  
Who was I to make you wait  
Just one chance  
Just one breath  
Just in case there's just one left  
'Cause you know,  
you know, you know_

_That I love you  
I have loved you all along  
And I miss you  
Been far away for far too long  
I keep dreaming you'll be with me  
and you'll never go  
Stop breathing if  
I don't see you anymore_

I sat there listening to him, with tears collecting in my eyes. Oh my God. So he _does_ still love me. He _does_ want me back. I was ready to jump into his arms right there, but I wanted to hear the rest of his song first. I hugged my knees to his chest as he continued singing:

_On my knees, I'll ask  
Last chance for one last dance  
'Cause with you, I'd withstand  
All of hell to hold your hand  
I'd give it all  
I'd give for us  
Give anything but I won't give up  
'Cause you know,  
you know, you know_

_That I love you  
I have loved you all along  
And I miss you  
Been far away for far too long  
I keep dreaming you'll be with me  
and you'll never go  
Stop breathing if  
I don't see you anymore_

I could feel more tears in my eyes as Roger sang the bridge.

_So far away  
Been far away for far too long  
So far away  
Been far away for far too long  
But you know, you know, you know_

_I wanted  
I wanted you to stay  
'Cause I needed  
I need to hear you say_

At this very line, Roger suddenly scooted closer to me, looked directly into my eyes, which were also brimming with tears (although he'd never admit it) and sang the final bit to me:

_I love you  
I have loved you all along  
And I forgive you  
For being away for far too long  
So keep breathing  
'Cause I'm not leaving you anymore  
Believe it  
Hold on to me and, never let me go  
Keep breathing  
'Cause I'm not leaving you anymore  
Believe it  
Hold on to me and, never let me go  
Keep breathing  
Hold on to me and, never let me go  
Keep breathing  
Hold on to me and, never let me go……_

Roger sang the last note, strummed the last chord, and then looked tentatively into my eyes. I could see his hand slightly trembling as he waited for a response from me. Clearing his throat nervously, he asked "So…..did you like it?"

I took in a deep breath, and gave him the response that I _knew_ he wanted to hear……

* * *

Ok guys, I'm being more than generous here. Now you'll _have_ to wait for the next chapter. But till then, here are some more mini mud cakes for you. Enjoy them and use that little down the bottom, ok? Stay cool! –giggles-

Oh and the song is called "Far Away" by Nickelback. I just had to use that song, it's so beautiful! -swoons-


	22. I Should Tell You, I Love You

OOOOKKKKAAAAAYYYYYYY! For all those people who **begged** me for this chapter; and ya'll know who you are _(looks pointedly at the crazed lunatic who threw a mud cake at my face) _I've decided to give it to you. So my 2000-word essay, which is due tomorrow, will have to wait to be started. Someone wanna kick me hard in the ass to get me to start it? _–Shows ass like Maureen in La Vie Boheme-_

Ok cool. Plus I got a sugar-sweet breakfast with extra sugar to get the brain cells pumping. _–Enjoys it-_

* * *

**Mark's POV.**

I gazed into Roger's nervous, expectant eyes, my heart filling with more love than what I've ever felt for him before. Without thinking, I plunged myself into his arms and kissed him like I never kissed him before. Just listening to that song, knowing that he loved me and wanted to be with me more than anything; that was all I ever needed to hear. I deepened the kiss when I felt his strong, warm arms wrap around me and pull me close to him. We then broke away to replenish our oxygen supply, and then gazed deep into each others' eyes. My heart broke as soon as I saw his gorgeous face completely stained with tears. His lips trembling, he began by saying, "Mark, I….."

I cut him off, saying "No Roger, you don't have to apologize, **I** do. I'm so sorry baby. I didn't mean any of the things I said."

Roger attempted to wipe my tears. "I didn't mean them either Marky. I'm sorry I was such an asshole. I just wanted Josh to go out and have fun doing things I could never do ever since I was sick. I promise I'll never do that to him again. You know how much I love him, right?"

I nodded and smiled at him. "Yes honey, I do. I love him so much. I love _you_ so much too. I'm so sorry, baby. I love you too much to even put into words." I trailed my thumb over his face, wiping his tears away.

Roger smiled his amazing smile, which lit up his whole face, and said "Oh Mark. I love you too, more than you will ever _ever_ know." He took my face into his hands and kissed me like never before. I kissed him back, tasting his tongue with mine, and caressing his lips with mine until we had to break away for air. We suddenly stripped off all our clothes and he laid me back on the bed and crawled on top of me, our eyes filled with desire, lust and fire. He rested his rippling, muscular chest on top of mine and kissed me again, while he rubbed his body against mine. I kissed him back, moaning loudly as he ran his hands up and down my sides. I managed to chortle out:

"Roger….please. I want you. _Now_. " Roger sat on my hips and just looked at me, his eyes suddenly filled with guilt. I rubbed his arm gently.

"Ohh baby, what's wrong?"

He shifted his gaze to the ground. "It's just……I mean, I don't deserve you. I was such a dick to you back home, and now here I am making love with you despite all that. You shouldn't even be here."

I smiled at him and brought his arm close to my face. "Oh I think this is exactly where I need to be. _I'm_ the one who doesn't deserve you, baby. I hurt you so badly, I kicked you out of our house and you still forgave me for all that" I replied, kissing his arm.

Roger smiled back at me. "Oh sweetie, I am so lucky to have you."

"No Roger, **I'm** the lucky one." I squeezed his hand tight, and he squeezed me back. "So, are you gonna gimme some lovin or not?"

He grinned at me and pulled out two condoms from his wallet. Slipping one on each of our cocks, he leaned his body over me while I held onto his shoulders for support, and I moaned his name as I felt his gigantic cock enter my body. I moaned and whimpered his name with every thrust he made.

"You are so fucking beautiful, Mark. I want you so _badly_" he growled in that deep, sexy voice of his that I loved so much and he pumped me further and further.

"Take me, baby. Take me to heaven," my voice was barely a whisper. I ran my hands over his amazing chest as I felt him close to the edge. His breathing slowed down for a minute, and then he whispered:

"Oh God, I'm so close. I'm gonna….."

I silenced his lips with my finger. "Come for me, Roggy." In a thrice, he screamed my name and exploded into the condom. I screamed and came just a few seconds later once I felt his rock-hard organ twitch and turn inside me. Once we came off our high, we collapsed into each other's arms. Roger turned his head to look at me, a huge smile on his face.

"_Wowie!_ Nothing beats sex like makeup sex," he remarked.

I giggled at him, happy to see the old Roger back. I wrapped my arms around him and held him close. "Yes indeed. Except knowing that the love of your life will be forever be yours" I said, kissing his forehead.

Roger smiled, and kissed my lips gently. He then shifted his body to pull himself out of me when I stopped him.

"No baby, leave it there. I missed this feeling."

He grinned back and held me tightly in his arms. "Me too. God, you are so fucking _amazing_."

I sighed and rested my head against his chest. I was just so glad to have my husband back in my life again.

* * *

We laid in each others' arms for most of the night, but neither one of us could sleep. So Roger rested his body against the bed head while I laid on him gently kissing and sucking his chest, our arms wrapped themselves tightly around each other. I raised my head to look into his eyes.

"Did you miss me?" I asked him.

Roger gently stroked my hair and kissed the top of my head. "More than anything. I missed you so much. I missed Josh so much too. I can't believe he came looking for me. I just hope to God he makes it through."

I smiled warmly at him and kissed his cheek. "Of course he will, baby. I believe it. Having you by my side again has suddenly made me more hopeful."

Roger smiled back at me, and said, "Wow, I'm so proud of you, baby. You've given me some hope too."

I nodded, and then sighed deeply. "So, did I hurt you that badly?"

Roger nodded tentatively. "Yes you did. Right here," he said as he took my hand and placed it on his heart. I bit my lip and felt more tears welling up in my eyes. _Man, I could just kick myself right now….._

"I'm so sorry I hurt you, baby. I love you so much," I whispered, kissing his chest where his heart was. Roger gently stroked my back and lifted my head to face him.

"Hey don't worry about it, love. You've already said that. I'll be fine now that you're back here with me again. Please stop apologising. I love you like crazy." He held me so close to him and wiped my tears away. We resumed our hugging and kissing for some more time until we heard the phone ring. We stared at it for a few minutes, until Roger picked itup.

"Hello?" he said nervously.

"Hello, Mr. Davis? This is Dr. Hitch. I think you better come down here. Something's happening to Josh."

Roger and I looked at each other again, as we hugged each other tightly._Oh Jesus, I hope nothing's wrong with him…._

* * *

**MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!** _–giggles like Dr. Evil-_ You didn't think I was gonna make that easy, did you? You wanted them to make up, you got it! As for the rest, well……..you'll just have to wait and find out! 


	23. Should I Stay Or Should I Go?

HHEEEYYYYYY guys! Finally managed to finish that bitch of an assignment, which I ended up handing in late anyway. So before I finish this story, let's see what our favourite little boy is up to. _-wears protective gear and hides from the crazed lunaic who likes to randomly throw mud cakes and water balloons at me-_

_**

* * *

**__**Josh's POV.**_

****

"_Angel?" _

"_Yes, honey?"_

_I watched the flowers sparkle and shine as Angel and I lay on our backs next to the heavenly river. "Is this all real? Does Heaven actually exist?" _

_Angel turned her body to face me and smiled. "Of course, but only if you believe in it. I've always believed in Heaven as this magical place with fluffy pink and white clouds and rainbows and stuff like that. I've also believed that Heaven is for people who have genuinely good souls and have brought joy to other people's lives."_

"_Which is exactly why you're here," I said, smiling back at her. Angel blushed and kissed my forehead. "Because this is what you deserve." _

"_Awww, thank you baby. Although it's no fun being here all by yourself," she mumbled and hugged me close. I hugged her back and breathed in her scent, which smelt exactly like the sparkly flowers. "Come on. I wanna show you something."_

_She then took my hand and led me into another door in the foyer. I opened it and saw what looked like a diving board over a swimming pool. I wasn't quite sure whether to walk it or not._

"_C'mon Joshy, it's okay. Here, follow me," said Angel. She took my hand and we both walked this diving board together and Oh My God! All I could see was this vastness of blue; deep sea blue, decorated with little speckles of light dancing away, and a gigantic white gleaming sphere, just inches away from where we were standing. I sputtered my words out._

"_Angel? Is that….is this the…?"_

_Angel smiled that warm smile of hers. "Yes. This is the sky, those are stars and this round white thing is the moon." I couldn't believe the sight before my eyes. One of the most beautiful sights in __the world and I got to experience it up close. I gazed in wonderment at the beautiful stars sparkling against the sky that was as blue as my Aba's eyes, but a bit deeper, and this gorgeous moon, shining its beautiful, cool light all over the earth. Wow, I bet Aunt Maureen would be so jealous of me. _

"_It's really something, isn't it?" whispered Angel. I could do nothing but nod in agreement. "Except there's no cow here jumping around or anything."_

_I giggled at her while I remembered watching Aba's footage of Aunt Maureen's protest, about Elsie jumping over the moon in a leap of faith. That cow would have been so lucky._

_Suddenly I saw a flash of orange light beeping on Angel's waist. I blinked and looked at her questioningly. _

_"No no honey, it's not an AZT break," she said, giggling at me. "This is like a news alert, telling me that there's something happening on Earth which you need to see." She took my hand and led me out of that room and into another room which looked like the control room of a TV studio. The biggest screen in the middle crackled a bit with white noise, and then the screen slowly came into focus. I saw an old, dingy apartment, a bed and two people lying in it. I blinked. They look oddly familiar._

"_Those are you parents, Joshy. Mark and Roger," said Angel with a smile. I focused my eyes a bit more and indeed, there was Dad and Aba, lying in bed with their arms around each other. I squealed._

"_You mean, they're back together?" Angel smiled and nodded at me._

"_Yes, it looks like they are. Told you they love each other too much to stay apart."_

_I sat down on the floor, crying silently with joy that my family was back together. I was so happy for them. Angel took me into her arms and hugged me tightly._

"_Ohh honey, don't cry. You should be smiling. I'm so happy that they found each other again" she said and she rubber my back._

"_Yeah I know. So am I" I said, hugging her back. Suddenly I saw a flash of light behind Angel's __back. I pulled away from her to look at it._

"_Oh that's the doorway from Heaven to Earth. Which means that now that your parents have realised what they've been doing wrong and corrected it, it's time for you to go back" said Angel as she looked over her shoulder. _

_I stood there staring at the door, thinking about what I was gonna do. If I went through it, I would be back with my parents and Leana and all my family. Butthen I would have to leaveAngel behind, and I couldn't stand the thought of leving behind someone so beautiful and kind and who couldn't even be a part of my life._

"_Well, are you ready?" asked Angel, holding her hand out to me._

_I wrapped my arms around myself tightly. "I don't know, Angel. If I go, I'll never see you again. I don't think I can bear that." I could feel my voice breaking._

_Angel took my face in her hands and wiped my tears. "You know what, you don't have to go unless you really want to. I mean, it's **your** decision. Do you want to go down to Earth or stay here in Heaven?"_

_I slumped down to the floor and buried my face in my hands as I struggled to make the most important decision of my life. Stay in Heaven, or go to Earth?_

* * *

Gee, I wonder what Joshy is gonna do... -giggles-


	24. The Pain Of Parting

**Roger's POV.**

Mark and I held each other tightly as we stood over the hospital bed in the early hours of the morning and watched our son's body twitch and turn on the bed. With our free hands, we gripped his arm tightly, hoping for some kind of response from him.

"I'm not sure if this isa good sign or not," said Dr. Hitch, who just entered the room and stood by our side. "Either he's actually gonna wake up, or this is just a false alarm where he's gonna go unconscious again."

I held Mark close and kissed his forehead as Collins rubbed his arm, and we waited for Maureen, Joanne and Leana to come. _Dear God, I hope he comes back to us. I can't stand any more of this…..._

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_Josh's POV._

_I **still** couldn't decide whether to stay in Heaven or go back to Earth. I couldn't stand to leave Angel behind. Unless……_

"_Say, Angel?" I asked her tentatively. "If I went back down to Earth, do you think you could come with me?"_

_Angel smiled sadly at me. "Oh my sweet darling, I wish I could but I can't. When a person dies an earthly death, they cannot come back to life. I so badly wanna come back down to Earth to be with Collins and all of you, but I can't it'll disrupt the natural order of the universe. I'm so sorry honey," she mumbled and pulled me into a tight hug._

_I hugged her back and buried my face into her shoulder. "But I'm gonna be away from you again. How can I live like that?"_

_Angel then pulled away from me, removed a giant fake-sapphire ring from her finger and pressed it into my hand. "Here," she said. "Take this from me and keep it. That way, whenever you look at it, you'll know that I'll always be with you." She smiled at me through her tears. I smiled right back and hugged her again._

"_Thank you so much," I whispered into her hair. "I love you Angel."_

"_I love you too, honey," she whispered back. "Say hello to everyone from me please. Especially Collins."_

"_I will, definitely." I pulled away reluctantly from her embrace and looked at her. "Goodbye, Angel."_

"_Goodbye Joshy," said Angel, smiling sadly. We waved at each other one last time, and then taking in a deep breath, I clutched the plastic ring tightly in my hand and entered the spiritual doorway, where I suddenly got consumed by a blinding white light, and I could feel myself falling, falling, falling……._

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Hmmmmmm, wonder what happens to Joshy now? –giggles- 


	25. Over The Moon

YYYEEEESSSSS! After 5 agonising days of torture, IT FINALLY WORKED! -does happy booty dance-

Umm, yeah, anyway. I've just changed my penname, in case anyone hasn't already noticed. I liked this one better, so yeah. Enjoy!

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Josh's POV.

…_..falling, down a long tunnel of never-ending white, Angel's voice becoming more and more distant and I think Dad's and Aunt Maureen's voices becoming louder and louder, until I suddenly felt my body land on something solid. I could feel my eyes fluttering open and……_

"Josh? Josh, can you hear me?" said a worried someone whom I thought was _Aba_.

I blinked my eyes more rapidly, trying to adjust to the sudden abundance of earthly light as the figures around me slowly came into focus. Turning my head around, I saw Uncle Collins, Aunt Maureen, Aunt Joanne, Leana, Aunt Mimi, _Aba_ and Dad and a man in a white coat whom I assumed was the doctor, all looking at me expectantly. I could see Dad's and _Aba's_ eyes threatening to spill with tears. I was so happy to see them all that I couldn't think of what to say. Adjusting my body on the hospital bed, I started the best way I could.

"I leapt over the moon."

Dad blinked. "You _what?_"

I nodded meekly. "I was in a tunnel, heading into this warm white light, and you'll never believe this but I swear to God, Angel was there."

Uncle Collins gasped. "Really?"

I smiled at him and took his hand in mine. "Yeah, and she looked _great_." Everyone laughed a little at this, even Uncle Collins, who started to cry at the mention of his lover's name. "She said; turn around, boyfriend. Go back to the family who will always love you, because it ain't your time yet." I smiled at Dad and _Aba_ as I said this.

_Aba_ bent down and took my face into his hands, whispering, "_Yeshula_. Oh, my baby _Yeshula_" and he cried softly as he tried to gently pick me off the bed so he could hug me and kiss me to death. Dad joined in the hugfest, wrapping his strong arms around the both of us and kissing us as he began to cry too. I smiled and hugged them back with whatever strength I could muster up.

"Dad, _Aba_," I choked through my own tears. "I love you guys so much."

Dad and Aba both smiled at me through their tears and kissed my face. "We love you even more, Joshy," whispered Dad as the two of them took me into their arms once again. We were then joined my Aunt Mimi, Uncle Collins, Aunt Maureen and Joanne and Leana, who all joined in the Bohemian group hug. I smiled. This is _exactly_ what I missed so much.

"_Ahem_," said the doctor guy who was standing and watching our little family moment awkwardly, an amused grin on his face. "As much as I understand how much you guys missed Josh, I think he could use a little space to breathe." We all giggled as they slowly released me one by one. He then placed his hand on my back and asked me:

"Hello Josh, I'm Dr. Hitch. How're you feeling?"

"I'm feeling pretty good. There's no pain or anything," I told him.

Dr. Hitch smiled and patted my back. "Excellent! Once we're done running all our tests on you, you can go home tomorrow!" Everyone, including me, cheered loudly at this.

"WOOHOOO! I can't _wait_ to get back to the loft!" I said.

"Me too," quipped Dad. "I really missed it, not to forget the people in it too." He and _Aba_ shared a long, loving kiss before my happy eyes. The three of us then shared a look saying, _its ok. Now that we've patched up our problems, we can all go home together._ Dad then came up to me, squeezed both my hands, and said:

"Look Josh, I just wanna say that, I'm sorry for leaving you guys like that. I should have fought-"

"Dad!" I cut him off. "Whatever happened to **Forget Regret** hmm?" He grinned sheepishly at me as I recalled Aunt Mimi's favourite _mantra_. "I don't care Dad. As long as you back home with _us_. Where you belong." Dad smiled, kissed my forehead, and pulled me into a warm hug which I happily returned. Then _Aba_ was next, crushing me tightly to him as he whispered "I love you" softly to me. Then came Uncle Collins, who gave me one of his famous bear-hugs. I smiled at him and said:

"Oh by the way, Uncle Collins, Angel says she loves you and misses you a lot."

Uncle Collins wiped his tears andblinked at me. "Did you really see her?"

I shifted the sheets on the hospital bed and hey presto! _There_ was the plastic blue ring that Angel gave me. I picked it up and showed it to him.

"That's…..that's one of Angel's rings," sputtered Uncle Collins.

I nodded. "She said to keep it safely so that she could always be with me."

Uncle Collins and I smiled at each other. "Well, you better do that then."

Then next came Aunt Mimi, Aunt Maureen and Aunt Joanne, who all hugged me at the same time. I giggled.

"Ladies, please! I need to breathe here!"

Aunt Maureen grinned. "Sorry, Pookie." Oh no, the dreaded word that makes _Aba_ squirm every time and now she uses it on me. They slowly released me one by one after planting kisses all over my face.

"I saw Angel too, when I was almost dying," said Aunt Mimi, twirling her long, brown hair around her finger. "She sent me back to earth too, because it wasn't my time either." I nodded, remembering the story Dad told me about singing her the special song that he wrote for her. "Doesn't she look amazing?"

"In drag? Oh, of course!" I replied with a smile. Next came Leana, who threw her arms around me and hugged me tightly. I hugged her back and - wait, was she crying?

I pulled away to look at her. "Hey Lea, what's wrong? I'm okay." Man, she certainly didn't look herself with her brown sweatpants, wrinkled white sweatshirt, tousled hair and makeup-less face.

"I'm so sorry, Josh! This whole thing was _my_ entire fault!" she sniffled. "If I hadn't taken you to that party, your parents wouldn't have fought and none of this would have happened!"

"Hey hey, Lea, it's okay. _Shhhh_, don't cry," I soothed, wiping her tears away. "Forget regret, or life is yours to miss."

Lea wiped her tears away and smiled. "I know I know. Sorry, Joshy. I'm just glad to have you back."

"I'm glad to _be_ back," I remarked, smiling back at her. Funnily enough, she looked so much nicer without her makeup. It was nice to see a face as clean as the morning, wearing only a smile. I couldn't shake the funny, queasy feeling in my stomach as we looked at each other awkwardly. But I took a deep breath, inched forward and softly kissed her. _How mighty brave of me_. But I relaxed as soon as I felt her lips move in reaction to mine. _Whew, thank God she feels the same way. God, she is so beautiful._ Feeling confident, we slowly wrapped our arms around each other as we continued our kiss. We got so wrapped up in our little moment that Aunt Maureen had to break us up by yelling, "WWOOOOHHOOOOOO! Somebody put out the fire!"

Lea and I blushed furiously as we parted our faces and smiled awkwardly at our Bohemian family, who started making whistles and catcalls at us. Just then, Dr. Hitch broke us up with a giggle of his own, saying:

"Hey guys, sorry to be a party pooper, but Josh really needs some time alone to rest. But you can come again in the evening again if you wish."

Everyone nodded at him and left the ward one by one, saying goodbye as they did so. I got another hug and kiss from Dad and from _Aba_, and a quick peck on the lips from Lea, who whispered: "Oh in case you didn't pick up on it, I really _really_ like you."

I grinned. "Well, I really really like you too." Lea giggled shyly as she heard this.

"See you in the evening," she mumbled, giving me a quick wave and skipping out the door. Once all the Bohemians had left, I settled back on my stiff bed, sighing happily that my parents were back together, that my family were here for me, that I finally met Angel and that I was able to tell Lea how I really felt about her. That God this moment wasn't the last. I couldn't wait to go back to the loft.

* * *

Here you go, guys! Oh, this is not the last chapter yet. There might be one or two more, depending on how I want to end the story. Which you will not find out until……..…much later! _–giggles cheekily-_


	26. No Day But Today!

**Mark's POV.**

We finally got back to home that Friday. As soon as we stepped into the loft, I yanked Roger into my arms and kissed him hard enough to make up for all the lost time. When we pulled apart, we smiled at each other widely, and then we smiled at Josh, who tried to balance himself against the loft door.

'Hey there, lemme help you little buddy," said Roger as he scurried over to Josh to help him up. I followed closely, and the two of us carried him and gently eased him onto the couch. All three of us sat together on the couch, holding each other, until Josh spoke.

"I am _so_ happy that you guys are back together," he said, tears slowly brimming in his eyes. He looked so well and healthy despite the bandage around his head and the cast around his leg, which we all already signed. I smiled and kissed his forehead.

"Of course we would be," I said as I gazed at my gorgeous Roger. "When you love someone more than anything else in the world, _nothing_ on earth can keep ever them apart."

Roger kissed my cheek and smiled. "Yes, because the power of love is stronger than anything on earth. Remember that, Josh."

"Of course," said Josh, as he wiped his eyes dry. "I'll always remember that."

* * *

**Josh's POV. _(15 years later)_**

And that's what I always remembered. Everyday of my life, I thought about this important lesson my parents taught me. And I never forgot it. Especially since now was the most important day of my life.

"C'mon Josh, hurry up! It's time for you to go!" said Seam as he came hurrying into my room.

"Yes Sean, I'm ready," I said exasperatedly. "ok let's go."

Because love can indeed move mountains.

"I Josh, take thee…"

And that is exactly what you promise the one that you love.

"……to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, till death do us part."

I looked at my loving Bohemian family as we exchanged rings, all looking a little older but still very young at heart. God, how I love them. There was Dad, _Aba_, Aunt Mimi, Aunt Maureen, Aunt Joanne and even Benny. No Uncle Collins though; he left us a year ago to go be with his Angel. We miss him terribly on this day but are happy that he's with the one he loves.

And I am happy with the one that I love.

"I love you Josh. I'll always love you, don't ever forget that."

I smile through my tears.

"I never will, Lea. I love you too. Forever."

The power of love is indeed great.

**-THE END-

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And that's the end of this story! Thank you all so much for your reviews and for being a part of this story! Take care!


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